Model Corrected Blood Input Function to Compute Cerebral FDG Uptake Rates From Dynamic Total-Body PET Images of Rats in vivo

Single time point quantitation of cerebral glucose metabolism by FDG-PET without arterial sampling

BACKGROUND

Until recently, quantitation of the net influx of 2-[18F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) to brain (Ki) and the cerebrometabolic rate for glucose (CMRglc) required serial arterial blood sampling in conjunction with dynamic positron emission tomography (PET) recordings. Recent technical innovations enable the identification of an image-derived input function (IDIF) from vascular structures, but are frequently still encumbered by the need for interrupted sequences or prolonged recordings that are seldom available outside of a research setting. In this study, we tested simplified methods for quantitation of FDG-Ki by linear graphic analysis relative to the descending aorta IDIF in oncology patients examined using a Biograph Vision 600 PET/CT with continuous bed motion (Aarhus) or using a recently installed Biograph Vision Quadra long-axial field-of-view (FOV) scanner (Bern).

RESULTS

Correlation analysis of the coefficients of a tri-exponential decomposition of the IDIFs measured during 67 min revealed strong relationships among the total area under the curve (AUC), the terminal normalized arterial integral (theta(52-67 min)), and the terminal image-derived arterial FDG concentration (Ca(52-67 min)). These relationships enabled estimation of the missing AUC from late recordings of the IDIF, from which we then calculated FDG-Ki in brain by two-point linear graphic analysis using a population mean ordinate intercept and the single late frame. Furthermore, certain aspects of the IDIF data from Aarhus showed a marked age-dependence, which was not hitherto reported for the case of FDG pharmacokinetics.

CONCLUSIONS

The observed interrelationships between pharmacokinetic parameters in the IDIF measured during the PET recording support quantitation of FDG-Ki in brain using a single averaged frame from the interval 52-67 min post-injection, with minimal error relative to calculation from the complete dynamic sequences.

Microglial activation persists beyond clinical recovery following sport concussion in collegiate athletes

Introduction

In concussion, clinical and physiological recovery are increasingly recognized as diverging definitions. This study investigated whether central microglial activation persisted in participants with concussion after receiving an unrestricted return-to-play (uRTP) designation using [18F]DPA-714 PET, an in vivo marker of microglia activation.

Methods

Eight (5 M, 3 F) current athletes with concussion (Group 1) and 10 (5 M, 5 F) healthy collegiate students (Group 2) were enrolled. Group 1 completed a pre-injury (Visit1) screen, follow-up Visit2 within 24 h of a concussion diagnosis, and Visit3 at the time of uRTP. Healthy participants only completed assessments at Visit2 and Visit3. At Visit2, all participants completed a multidimensional battery of tests followed by a blood draw to determine genotype and study inclusion. At Visit3, participants completed a clinical battery of tests, brain MRI, and brain PET; no imaging tests were performed outside of Visit3.

Results

For Group 1, significant differences were observed between Visits 1 and 2 (p < 0.05) in ImPACT, SCAT5 and SOT performance, but not between Visit1 and Visit3 for standard clinical measures (all p > 0.05), reflecting clinical recovery. Despite achieving clinical recovery, PET imaging at Visit3 revealed consistently higher [18F]DPA-714 tracer distribution volume (VT) of Group 1 compared to Group 2 in 10 brain regions (p < 0.001) analyzed from 164 regions of the whole brain, most notably within the limbic system, dorsal striatum, and medial temporal lobe. No notable differences were observed between clinical measures and VT between Group 1 and Group 2 at Visit3.

Discussion

Our study is the first to demonstrate persisting microglial activation in active collegiate athletes who were diagnosed with a sport concussion and cleared for uRTP based on a clinical recovery.

Dynamic FDG-PET demonstration of functional brain abnormalities

Positron emission tomography with fluorine‐18 fluorodeoxyglucose (¹⁸F‐FDG‐PET) has been used over 3 decades to map patterns of brain glucose metabolism to evaluate normal brain function or demonstrate abnormalities of metabolism in brain disorders. Traditional PET maps patterns of absolute tracer uptake but has demonstrated shortcomings in disorders such as brain neoplasm or focal epilepsy in the ability to resolve normally from pathological tissue. In this review, we describe an alternative process of metabolic mapping, dynamic PET. This new technology quantifies the dynamics of tracer uptake and decays with the goal of improving the functional mapping of the desired metabolic activity in the target organ. We discuss technical implementation and findings of initial pilot studies in brain tumor treatment and epilepsy surgery.

Dynamic FDG-PET in localization of focal epilepsy: A pilot study

Epilepsy surgery remains underutilized, in part because non-invasive methods of potential seizure foci localization are inadequate. We used high-resolution, parametric quantification from dynamic 2-[18F] fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography (dFDG-PET) imaging to locate hypometabolic foci in patients whose standard clinical static PET images were normal. We obtained dFDG-PET brain images with simultaneous EEG in a one-hour acquisition on seven patients with no MRI evidence of focal epilepsy to record uptake and focal radiation decay. Images were attenuation- and motion-corrected and co-registered with high-resolution T1-weighted patient MRI and segmented into 18 regions of interest (ROI) per hemisphere. Tracer uptake was calibrated with a model corrected blood input function with partial volume (PV) corrections to generate tracer parametric maps compared between mean radiation values between hemispheres with z-scores. We identified ROI with the lowest negative z scores (<-1.65 SD) as hypometabolic. Dynamic 2-[18F] fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose positron emission tomography ( found focal regions of altered metabolism in all cases in which standard clinical FDG-PET found no abnormalities. This pilot study of dynamic FDG-PET suggests that further research is merited to evaluate whether glucose dynamics offer improved clinical utility for localization of epileptic foci over standard static techniques.