RSNA: DCE-MRI useful in quantifying arterial wall inflammation
Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) was able to measure and quantify arterial inflammation with good correlation to 18F-FDG PET/CT and might be useful in the diagnosis of arteritis and in monitoring anti-inflammatory therapy, according to presentation last week at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting in Chicago.

Clemens Cyran, MD and colleagues at the department of clinical radiology, University of Munich in Germany compared 18F-FDG PET/CT to high resolution dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) in its ability to measure and quantify inflammation in carotid or vertebral arteries.

“Patients underwent 18F-FDG-PET/CT within one week of the MRI scan. PET/CT images were anatomically matched using the carotid bifurcation and the vertebral bones as landmarks,” Cyran said.

Cyran and colleagues found that PET/CT standardized uptake value was significantly higher in patients with arteritis and correlated significantly with the DCE-MRI.

“Patients with arteritis as diagnosed by PET/CT had significantly larger extraction fractions and a larger interstitial volume as assayed by dynamic MRI,” Cyran noted.
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