Abstract
BACKGROUND: Increased uptake of (18)F-Sodium fluoride ((18)F-NaF) PET has potential to identify atherosclerotic plaques that are vulnerable to rupture. Whether (18)F-NaF PET can evaluate the significance of atherosclerotic plaque in patients with stable coronary artery disease is less clear. We evaluated (18)F-NaF PET uptake in coronary arteries in patients without acute coronary artery syndrome to determine the association of (18)F-NaF signal uptake with severity of coronary stenosis. METHODS AND RESULTS: We retrospectively identified 114 patients who received both regadenoson stress (82)Rb myocardial perfusion PET and (18)F-NaF PET study with an average interval of 5 months. Out of this cohort, forty-one patients underwent invasive coronary angiography. In a patient-based analysis, patients with ischemic regadenoson stress (82)Rb PET had significantly higher coronary (18)F-NaF uptake than patients with normal myocardial perfusion (P < .01). Among the 41 patients who underwent coronary angiography, per-vessel (18)F-NaF uptake in both obstructive and nonobstructive coronary arteries was significantly higher than in normal coronary arteries (P < .05) regardless of the severity of coronary calcification. There was poor correlation between calcification and (18)F-NaF uptake in coronary arteries (r = 0.41) CONCLUSION: Coronary arterial (18)F-NaF uptake is associated with coronary stenosis severity in patients with stable coronary artery disease. (18)F-NaF PET studies may be useful for characterizing coronary atherosclerotic plaques.