Reference values for fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose and fluorine-18-sodium fluoride uptake in human arteries: a prospective evaluation of 89 healthy adults

Reference values of fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (F-FDG) and fluorine-18-sodium fluoride (F-NaF) uptake in human arteries are unknown. The aim of this study was to determine age-specific and sex-specific reference values of arterial F-FDG and F-NaF uptake. Uptake of F-FDG and F-NaF was determined in the ascending aorta, aortic arch, and descending thoracic aorta. In addition, F-FDG uptake was determined in the carotid arteries and F-NaF uptake was determined in the coronary arteries. Arterial F-FDG and F-NaF uptake were quantified as the blood pool subtracted maximum activity concentration in kBq/ml (BS F-FDGmax and BS F-NaFmax, respectively). In addition to determining reference values, we evaluated the influence of age and sex on BS F-FDGmax and BS F-NaFmax. Arterial F-FDG and F-NaF uptake was assessed in 89 healthy adults aged 21-75 years (mean age: 44±14 years, 53% men). Both BS F-FDGmax and BS F-NaFmax increased with age. BS F-FDGmax increased with age in the descending aorta (β=0.28; P=0.003), whereas BS F-NaFmax increased with age in the ascending aorta (β=0.18; P