Optimizing arterial ¹⁸F-sodium fluoride positron emission tomography analysis

Excerpt

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains a leading cause of death worldwide and methods to improve risk stratification and prevention are required. Non-invasive imaging plays an important role in CVD risk stratification, for example the use of CT-coronary calcium scoring to reclassify patients deemed at intermediate risk based on clinical risk scores. However, the quantification of plaque burden often does not distinguish patients with quiescent disease from those who will go on to develop worsening disease manifesting in a cardiovascular disease event. An attractive feature of molecular imaging modalities is the potential to detect and localize active pathophysiological processes that drive progressive vascular disease and subsequent clinical events. …