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Usefulness of whole-body fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography in patients with large-vessel vasculitis: a systematic review

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Abstract

The objective of this study is to systematically review the role of positron emission tomography (PET) and PET/computed tomography (PET/CT) with fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) in patients with large-vessel vasculitis (LVV). A comprehensive literature search of published studies through April 2011 in PubMed/MEDLINE and Scopus databases regarding whole-body FDG-PET and PET/CT in patients with LVV was performed. We identified 32 studies including 604 LVV patients. The main findings of these studies are presented. The conclusions are the following: (1) FDG-PET and PET/CT are useful imaging methods in the initial diagnosis and in the assessment of activity and extent of disease in patients with LVV; (2) the correlation between FDG-PET findings and serological levels of inflammatory markers, as well as the usefulness of FDG-PET and PET/CT in evaluating treatment response, remains unclear; (3) it appears that there is a superiority of FDG-PET and PET/CT over conventional imaging methods in the diagnosis of LVV, but not in assessing disease activity under immunosuppressive treatment, in predicting relapse or in evaluating vascular complications; and (4) given the heterogeneity between studies with regard to PET analysis and diagnostic criteria, a standardization of the technique is needed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Positron Emission Tomography Centre, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Largo Gemelli 8, Rome, 00168, Italy

    Giorgio Treglia, Maria Vittoria Mattoli, Lucia Leccisotti & Alessandro Giordano

  2. Division of Rheumatology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy

    Gianfranco Ferraccioli

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  1. Giorgio Treglia
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  2. Maria Vittoria Mattoli
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  3. Lucia Leccisotti
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  4. Gianfranco Ferraccioli
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  5. Alessandro Giordano
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Correspondence to Giorgio Treglia.

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Treglia, G., Mattoli, M.V., Leccisotti, L. et al. Usefulness of whole-body fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography in patients with large-vessel vasculitis: a systematic review. Clin Rheumatol 30, 1265–1275 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-011-1828-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-011-1828-9

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