Feasibility of whole-body 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose positron emission tomography angiography using continuous bed motion in patients with vascular disease: a pilot study.

Abstract

Positron emission tomography (PET) angiography is a promising PET imaging method for vessel evaluation. With advances in PET technologies, PET angiography of the whole body is now possible using continuous bed motion (CBM) mode. This study aimed to evaluate the image quality for depicting the aorta and main branches and the diagnostic performance of whole-body PET angiography in patients with vascular disease. We retrospectively identified 12 consecutive patients who underwent whole-body 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose ([18F]FDG) PET angiography in CBM mode. Whole-body PET angiography was performed between 20 and 45s after administering [18F]FDG using CBM from the neck to the pelvis. The visibility of whole-body PET angiography was assessed for the 24 segments in three regions per patient using a 4-point grading scale (1, unacceptable; 2, poor; 3, good; 4, excellent), and grades 3 and 4 were considered diagnostic. The diagnostic accuracy of whole-body PET angiography for detecting vascular abnormalities was calculated using contrast-enhanced CT as a reference standard. We evaluated 285 segments from 12 patients, and overall, 170/285 segments (60%) were considered diagnostic throughout the whole body, including 96/117 (82%), 22/72 (31%), and 52/96 (54%) segments in the neck-to-chest region, abdominal region, and pelvic region, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of whole-body PET angiography for detecting vascular abnormalities were 75.9%, 98.8%, and 96.5%, respectively. Whole-body PET angiography showed a better image quality for the neck-to-chest and pelvic regions in this setting, although it provided limited information on the vessels in the abdominal region.