REVIEW  IMAGING INFLAMMATION IN CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES 

The Quarterly Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 2020 March;64(1):21-34

DOI: 10.23736/S1824-4785.20.03231-8

Copyright © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Inflammation imaging to define vulnerable plaque or vulnerable patient

Jonathan VIGNE ^{1, 2, 3} ✉, Fabien HYAFIL ^{2, 4}

¹ Department of Nuclear Medicine, CHU de Caen Normandie, Normandie University (UNICAEN), Caen, France; ² INSERM U1148, Laboratory for Vascular Translational Science (LVTS), DHU FIRE, University of Paris, Paris, France; ³ Department of Pharmacy, CHU de Caen Normandie, Normandie University (UNICAEN), Caen, France; ⁴ Department of Nuclear Medicine, Bichat University Hospital, Paris, France

The role of nuclear imaging in the characterization of high-risk atherosclerotic plaque is increasing thanks to its high sensitivity to detect radiopharmaceuticals signal in tissues. Currently, 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose ([18F]FDG) is the most studied and widely used radiopharmaceutical for the molecular imaging of atherosclerotic plaques with positron emission tomography (PET). [18F]FDG PET is a valuable tool to non-invasively detect, monitor and quantify inflammatory processes occurring in atherosclerotic plaques. The aim of this review is to gather insights provided by [18F]FDG PET to better understand the role of inflammation in the definitions of the vulnerable plaque and the vulnerable patient. Alternatives radiopharmaceuticals targeting inflammation and other potential high-risk plaque related processed are also discussed.

KEY WORDS: Atherosclerosis; Inflammation; Nuclear medicine; Molecular imaging