Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been the leading global cause of death for the last 15 years. In 2016, CVD, and resulting sudden and severe medical emergencies, accounted for 15.2 million deaths globally (1). Early CVD pathophysiology is characterized by both inflammation and microcalcification of vasculature. Currently, detection and observation of the disease at this stage are difficult. Additionally, the cause-effect relationships among symptoms remain unknown (2, 3, 4, 5). Nevertheless, inflammation and calcification have independently been connected to CVD risk (1, 6). Moreover, studies have shown that calcification specifically in the aorta is associated with an increased risk of death from CVD (7). For these reasons, this study aims to establish a method to examine and quantify the relationship between inflammation and plaque microcalcification in the descending thoracic aorta, and develop a strategy to better detect these CVD risk factors. PET/CT imaging with 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) and 18-Sodium Fluoride (NaF) radiotracers were used to detect plaque inflammation and vascular microcalcification, respectively. The thoracic aorta was then manually segmented on PMOD, and inflammation/microcalcification in each participant’s aorta were quantified by calculating the mean standard uptake value (SUV) for both radiotracers. The relationship between inflammation and microcalcification, as well as how both contribute to CVD, were analyzed by comparing SUVs for control participants and patients. It was found that participants with CVD have significantly more inflammation and microcalcification in this area than that among controls and that aortic inflammation and microcalcification are positively correlated with each other and with age.

Date Published: 19 March 2019
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 10953, Medical Imaging 2019: Biomedical Applications in Molecular, Structural, and Functional Imaging, 109531N (19 March 2019); doi: 10.1117/12.2512744

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 10953:
Medical Imaging 2019: Biomedical Applications in Molecular, Structural, and Functional Imaging
Barjor Gimi; Andrzej Krol, Editor(s)