¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT brown fat detection: Differences between adult and pediatric population in a 12 year experience

To analyze epidemiological and anthropometric features of patients with brown adipose tissue (BAT) activation detected by fluorine18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT).

From 2005 to 2017, 818 ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT studies positive for BAT detection were retrospectively included, 742 examinations performed on the adult population and 76 PET/CT on the pediatric population. A Chi-squared test was performed to compare features distribution between the adult and pediatric patients.

Adults showed a higher rate of BAT detection in females (79% vs. 61%, P<0.001) and in hyperglycaemic patients (>100mg/dL) (24% vs. 16%, P=0.02), no significant difference was found with regard to overweight patients (BMI>25kg/m²) (22% vs. 20%, P=.55). Considering females only, the adults showed a higher rate of BAT detection both in hyperglycaemic (83% vs. 42%, P<0.001) and overweight patients (80% vs. 67%, P=0.005). In both populations BAT activation happened more frequently in cold seasons; there was no significant distribution difference with regard to season of birth (P=0.2).

Sex, glycemia and BMI play a major role in predicting BAT activation, with significant differences between adults and pediatric patients. Cold exposure is confirmed as an important predicting factor, while season of birth is not significant.