Loading...
Please wait, while we are loading the content...
The role of 18F-FDG PET/CT in large-vessel vasculitis: appropriateness of current classification criteria?
| Content Provider | Europe PMC |
|---|---|
| Author | Balink, H. Bennink, R. J. van Eck-Smit, B. L. F. Verberne, H. J. |
| Copyright Year | 2014 |
| Abstract | Patients with clinical suspicion of large-vessel vasculitis (LVV) may present with nonspecific signs and symptoms and increased inflammatory parameters and may remain without diagnosis after routine diagnostic procedures. Both the nonspecificity of the radiopharmaceutical 18F-FDG and the synergy of integrating functional and anatomical images with PET/CT offer substantial benefit in the diagnostic work-up of patients with clinical suspicion for LVV. A negative temporal artery biopsy, an ultrasonography without an arterial halo, or a MRI without aortic wall thickening or oedema do not exclude the presence of LVV and should therefore not exclude the use of 18F-FDG PET/CT when LVV is clinically suspected. This overview further discusses the notion that there is substantial underdiagnosis of LVV. Late diagnosis of LVV may lead to surgery or angioplasty in occlusive forms and is often accompanied by serious aortic complications and a fatal outcome. In contrast to the American College of Rheumatology 1990 criteria for vasculitis, based on late LVV effects like arterial stenosis and/or occlusion, 18F-FDG PET/CT sheds new light on the classification of giant cell arteritis (GCA) and Takayasu arteritis (TA). The combination of these observations makes the role of 18F-FDG PET/CT in the assessment of patients suspected for having LVV promising. |
| ISSN | 23146133 |
| Journal | Biomed Research International |
| Volume Number | 2014 |
| PubMed Central reference number | PMC4190829 |
| PubMed reference number | 25328890 |
| e-ISSN | 23146141 |
| DOI | 10.1155/2014/687608 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Hindawi |
| Publisher Date | 2014-08-14 |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Rights License | This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Copyright © 2014 H. Balink et al. |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
| Subject | Immunology and Microbiology Medicine Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology |