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Incidental focal FDG uptake in heart is a lighthouse for considering cardiac screening

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A Letter to the Editor to this article was published on 29 June 2013

Abstract

Objectives

Cardiac FDG uptake is known to show a variety of patterns under clinical fasting conditions. We hypothesized that focal FDG uptake in the heart (FUH) represents a sign of cardiac disease risk, especially in coronary artery disease (CAD).The aim of this study was to clarify the relationship between FUH and cardiac disease.

Methods

Cases showing FUH were selected based on comments in diagnostic reports or identification on retrospective review. Quantitative analysis was performed using maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), with regions of interest drawn over focal uptake areas in the heart as confirmed by PET/CT and in lateral side of the same slice showing focal FDG uptake.

Results

For the 20 patients (11 men, 9 women) with confirmed FUH, coronary artery stenosis or history of treatment for coronary disease was present in 11 patients (55.0 %), and 2 patients showed apical hypertrophy. Mean SUVmax of FUH did not differ significantly between patients with confirmed cardiac disease and those with no evidence of cardiac disease (P = 0.78).

Conclusions

FUH suggests a high likelihood of CAD in patients without myocardial symptoms. Cardiac screening or a check of the history of cardiac disease is thus worth considering when FUH is seen incidentally on FDG-PET/CT.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Radiology, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, 1-21-1 Toyama, Shinjyuku-ku, Tokyo, 162-8655, Japan

    Ryogo Minamimoto, Miyako Morooka, Yoko Miyata, Momoko Okasaki & Kazuo Kubota

  2. Department of Radiology, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan

    Kimiteru Ito

  3. Department of Cardiology, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

    Hisao Hara, Osamu Okazaki & Masao Moroi

Authors
  1. Ryogo Minamimoto
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  2. Miyako Morooka
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  3. Yoko Miyata
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  4. Kimiteru Ito
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  5. Momoko Okasaki
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  6. Hisao Hara
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  7. Osamu Okazaki
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  8. Masao Moroi
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  9. Kazuo Kubota
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Correspondence to Ryogo Minamimoto.

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Minamimoto, R., Morooka, M., Miyata, Y. et al. Incidental focal FDG uptake in heart is a lighthouse for considering cardiac screening. Ann Nucl Med 27, 572–580 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12149-013-0721-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12149-013-0721-9

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