19 Dec 19. Featured Paper

Link to paper on The British Journal of Radiology

Authors

Jacek Kwiecinski, Piotr J Slomka, Marc R Dweck, David E Newby, & Daniel S Berman.

Abstract

Positron emission tomography (PET) with ¹⁸F-sodium fluoride (¹⁸F-NaF) has emerged as a promising non-invasive imaging modality to identify high-risk & ruptured atherosclerotic plaques.

By visualizing microcalcification, ¹⁸F-NaF PET holds clinical promise in refining how we evaluate coronary artery disease, shifting our focus from assessing disease burden to atherosclerosis activity.

In this review, we provide an overview of studies that have utilized ¹⁸F-NaF PET for imaging atherosclerosis.

We discuss the associations between traditional coronary artery disease measures (risk factors) & ¹⁸F-NaF plaque activity.

We also present the data on the histological validation as well as show how ¹⁸F-NaF uptake is associated with plaque morphology on intravascular & CT imaging.

Finally, we discuss the technical challenges associated with ¹⁸F-NaF coronary PET highlighting recent advances in this area.