New insight of molecular imaging into the atheroma biology: (18)F-fluoride PET/CT and 18F-FDG PET/CT of 3 carotid plaques in a symptomatic neurologic patient.

In a 75-year-old patient admitted with a middle cerebral artery stroke, a contrast-enhanced CT showed 3 atheroma plaques. Five days after the stroke, a F-fluoride PET/CT to evaluate calcification and, 24 hours later, a F-FDG PET/CT to evaluate inflammation were carried out. The different metabolic behavior of both radiotracers, showing different intensities and distribution in each plaque, may represent different phases of the atherogenesis and in combination could provide new information for the early identification of the carotid unstable plaque.