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18F-sodium fluoride PET/CT provides prognostic clarity compared to calcium and Framingham risk scoring when addressing whole-heart arterial calcification

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European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Aims

To investigate the benefit of utilizing 18F-sodium fluoride (NaF) PET/CT over calcium and Framingham scoring for potential preventative coronary artery disease (CAD) intervention.

Methods and results

This retrospective study included 136 participants (ages 21–75, BMI 18–43 kg/m2): 86 healthy controls and 50 patients. CT heart segmentations were superimposed onto PET images and standard uptake values (SUV) were calculated by a semi-auto segmentation method of drawing volumes of interest around the heart. Intergroup comparisons were made matching 37 patient/control pairs based on age, gender, and BMI. ROC curves were generated to determine how well SUV and Framingham methods predicted patient status. Regressions including all 136 participants were performed between SUV, age, and BMI. Patients exhibited higher average SUV (SUVmean; P = 0.006) and Framingham scores (P = 0.02) than controls. However, ROC curves indicated that SUVmean could discriminate patients from controls (AUC = 0.63, P = 0.049), but Framingham scores could not (AUC = 0.44, P = 0.38). Calcium scores and maximum SUV (SUVmax) did not differ between patients and controls. SUVmean correlated with age and BMI among females (age, partial R2 = 0.16, P = 0.001; BMI, partial R2 = 0.12, P = 0.004) and males (age, partial R2 = 0.28, P < 0.0001; BMI, partial R2 = 0.22, P < 0.0001).

Conclusion

Unlike calcium scores, NaF PET/CT-derived values differed between patients and controls. Framingham risk score patterns echoed those of SUVmean, but were not sensitive enough to predict patient status. SUVmean values increased with age and BMI. Therefore, incorporation of NaF PET/CT into routine prognostic CAD assessment might prove beneficial for assessing early stage plaque calcification in coronary arteries.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01724749).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Olivia Sorci, Alexandra S. Batzdorf, Michael Mayer, Sylvia Rhodes, Matthew Peng, Amanda R. Jankelovits, Julia N. Hornyak, Abass Alavi & Chamith S. Rajapakse

  2. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark

    Oke Gerke & Poul Flemming Høilund-Carlsen

  3. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Chamith S. Rajapakse

  4. MRI Education Center, 1 Founders Building, 3400 Spruce St., Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Chamith S. Rajapakse

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  1. Olivia Sorci
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chamith S. Rajapakse.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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The CAMONA study was approved by the Danish National Health Committee on Health Research Ethics, registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01724749) and conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. All participants provided written informed consent.

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Sorci, O., Batzdorf, A.S., Mayer, M. et al. 18F-sodium fluoride PET/CT provides prognostic clarity compared to calcium and Framingham risk scoring when addressing whole-heart arterial calcification. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 47, 1678–1687 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-019-04590-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-019-04590-3

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