¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT Identifies Patients at Risk for Future Vascular Events in an Otherwise Asymptomatic Cohort with Neoplastic Disease

Abstract

Our objective was to evaluate the association of arterial 18 F-FDG uptake and calcifications in large arteries as detected by 18 F-FDG PET/CT with the subsequent occurrence of vascular events in otherwise asymptomatic cancer patients. Methods: Clinical follow-up information was obtained for 932 cancer patients examined with whole-body 18 F-FDG PET/CT (median follow-up time, 29 mo). Among this cohort, 279 patients had died from their oncologic disease. In 15 of 932 patients (1.6%), a vascular event, defined as ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction, or revascularization, was registered. The maximal standardized uptake value (SUV) was divided by the blood-pool SUV, yielding a target-to-background ratio (TBR) for each arterial segment. The mean TBR as well as a calcified plaque sum score per patient were calculated in the major vessels: ascending, descending, and abdominal aorta, aortic arch, as well as iliac and carotid arteries. Results: A significant correlation was observed between mean TBR and calcified plaque sum (P , 0.001). Although calcified plaque sum significantly correlated with all conventional risk factors for vascular events, mean TBR correlated only with age, the male sex, and hypertension. The Cox regression hazard model identified a mean TBR $ 1.7 and a calcified plaque sum $ 15 as independent predictors for the occurrence of a vascular event. Patients with both mean TBR and calcified plaque sum above these thresholds were identified as having the highest risk for a future vascular event. However, a mean TBR $ 1.7 had greater prognostic value than did a calcified plaque sum $ 15. Conclusion: In a large cohort of cancer patients, increased 18 F-FDG uptake in major arteries emerged as the strongest predictor of a subsequent vascular event. Concomitant severe vascular calcifications seemed to impart a particularly high risk. Given the small event rate in the present study, larger, prospective trials of patients without cancer are required to substantiate these promising results.

Vascular imaging with positron emission tomography

“…A role for risk prediction of myocardial infarction, stroke or revascularization was also suggested in a larger retrospective analysis (Fig. 3) [70]. Subsequent stroke correlated with foci of FDG uptake in the carotid arteries or aortic arch in a recent case-control study [71].…”

Imaging atherosclerotic burden and inflammation: Insights into the spectrum of atherosclerotic disease in HIV

“…31,32 In addition, higher arterial FDG uptake is associated with a substantially increased risk for subsequent stroke and MI. [33][34][35] Taken together, these studies provide justification for using arterial FDG-PET/CT imaging to provide a meaningful measure of arterial inflammation in human clinical studies.…”

Invasive or non-invasive imaging for detecting high-risk coronary lesions?

“…Several other PET tracers have been tested for use in atherosclerosis imaging, which might offer more specific markers of inflammation than 18 F-FDG or provide better methods for coronary artery imaging owing to inherently low myocardial tracer activity. These include 18 F-fluorodeoxymannose, the somatostatin receptor subtype-2 PET ligand 68 Ga-DOTATATE, 11 F-fluorocholine, and transient receptor protein receptor tracers, including 11 C-PK11195 [128][129][130][131]. Aside from inflammation, several other pathogenic mechanisms of atherosclerosis can be imaged using PET, including microcalcification, hypoxia, neo-angiogenesis, hematopoiesis, and HDL accumulation [126,[132][133][134][135].…”