High incidence of atherosclerosis in smokers demonstrated by NaF-PET/CT imaging of the major arteries

1661 Objectives: In this study, we analyzed the impact of smoking on total body atherosclerosis using 18F-sodium fluoride (NaF)-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT). We hypothesized that subjects with low risk for and subjects at-risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), who either actively smoked or had a history of smoking, would demonstrate greater global arterial NaF uptake compared to their non-smoking controls. Methods: We compared smokers assessed to be at low risk for CVD (n = 21) to non-smokers at low risk for CVD (n = 26) and smokers assessed to be at-risk for CVD (n = 17) to non-smokers at-risk for CVD (n = 10) as assessed by the systematic coronary risk evaluation (SCORE) tool. The average of mean standardized uptake value (Avg SUVmean) was measured by mapping regions of interest of the arteries including the carotid, coronary, femoral, and popliteal arteries, as well as the aorta. Wilcoxon9s rank-sum test was used to assess the differences in Avg SUVmean between smokers and their age- and sex-matched non-smoking controls. Results: Subjects who smoked and had low risk for CVD demonstrated greater Avg SUVmean in the ascending aorta (p = 0.007), aortic arch (p = 0.003), descending aorta (p ≤ 0.001), left external iliac (p = 0.002), and total vasculature (p = 0.005) compared to their non-smoking controls. Subjects who smoked and were at-risk for CVD demonstrated greater Avg SUVmean in the carotid artery (p = 0.042) and aortic arch (p = 0.029) compared to their controls. Conclusions: Global arterial NaF uptake appears to be associated with smoking status. NaF-PET/CT may be implemented as an imaging modality for evaluating the importance of smoking on micro-calcification of the arteries. \n@font-face \t{font-family:\"Cambria Math\"; \tpanose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; \tmso-font-charset:0; \tmso-generic-font-family:roman; \tmso-font-pitch:variable; \tmso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}@font-face \t{font-family:\"Arial Unicode MS\"; \tpanose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4; \tmso-font-charset:128; \tmso-generic-font-family:swiss; \tmso-font-pitch:variable; \tmso-font-signature:-134238209 -371195905 63 0 4129279 0;}@font-face \t{font-family:\"\\@Arial Unicode MS\"; \tpanose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4; \tmso-font-charset:128; \tmso-generic-font-family:swiss; \tmso-font-pitch:variable; \tmso-font-signature:-134238209 -371195905 63 0 4129279 0;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal \t{mso-style-unhide:no; \tmso-style-qformat:yes; \tmso-style-parent:\"\"; \tmargin:0in; \tline-height:115%; \tmso-pagination:widow-orphan; \tfont-size:11.0pt; \tfont-family:\"Arial\",sans-serif; \tmso-fareast-font-family:Arial; \tmso-ansi-language:EN;}h4 \t{mso-style-priority:9; \tmso-style-qformat:yes; \tmso-style-link:\"Heading 4 Char\"; \tmso-style-next:Normal; \tmargin-top:14.0pt; \tmargin-right:0in; \tmargin-bottom:4.0pt; \tmargin-left:0in; \tline-height:115%; \tmso-pagination:widow-orphan lines-together; \tpage-break-after:avoid; \tmso-outline-level:4; \tfont-size:12.0pt; \tfont-family:\"Arial\",sans-serif; \tcolor:#666666; \tmso-ansi-language:EN; \tfont-weight:normal;}span.Heading4Char \t{mso-style-name:\"Heading 4 Char\"; \tmso-style-priority:9; \tmso-style-unhide:no; \tmso-style-locked:yes; \tmso-style-link:\"Heading 4\"; \tmso-ansi-font-size:12.0pt; \tmso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; \tcolor:#666666;}.MsoChpDefault \t{mso-style-type:export-only; \tmso-default-props:yes; \tfont-size:11.0pt; \tmso-ansi-font-size:11.0pt; \tmso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt; \tfont-family:\"Arial\",sans-serif; \tmso-ascii-font-family:Arial; \tmso-fareast-font-family:Arial; \tmso-hansi-font-family:Arial; \tmso-bidi-font-family:Arial; \tmso-ansi-language:EN;}.MsoPapDefault \t{mso-style-type:export-only; \tline-height:115%;}div.WordSection1 \t{page:WordSection1;}