Robert Kwee1, Gerrit Teule, Robert van
Oostenbrugge, Werner Mess, Martin Prins, Rob van der Geest2, Paul
Hofman, Jos van Engelshoven, Joachim Wildberger, Eline Kooi
1Maastricht University Medical Center,
Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands; 2Leiden University Medical
Center,Leiden, Netherlands
The
present study demonstrated that overall correlations between 18F-FDG PET
findings and morphological and compositional CT/MRI findings of carotid
plaques are weak. Correlations between CT and MRI findings are
moderate-to-strong, but measurements of lipid-rich necrotic core and
calcifications are significantly larger at CT, whereas measurements of
fibrous tissue are significantly larger at MRI. There is also considerable
variation in absolute differences between CT and MRI measurements, implying
that CT and MRI are not interchangeable. Future prospective longitudinal
studies should determine which imaging modality is most effective for risk
stratifying patients for stroke.