La edad del paciente como factor que puede influir en la captación miocárdica de 18 F-FDG

Purpose: To evaluate whether age can influence myocardial F-18-FDG uptake.Method: A retrospective evaluation was performed on 50 paediatric and 50 adult lymphoma F-18-FDG PET/CT studies. Patients remained in fasting condition (8-12h) before FDG injection, with a no fat diet and no heparin administered before test imaging. Cardiac SUVmax and ratio SUVmax cardiac/liver was determined in both groups.Results: The mean cardiac SUVmax was 2.0 and SUVmax heart/liver 1.7 in paediatric patients. The mean cardiac SUVmax and SUVmax heart/liver in adults was 6.4 and 3.0, respectively. In 16 children presenting for initial lymphoma staging, the mean cardiac SUVmax was 1.5, and mean SUVmax heart/liver 1.2. The 34 paediatric patients presenting for the therapeutic study showed a mean heart SUVmax of 2.3 and a heart/liver SUVmax of 1.9. In 20 adults studied for initial staging, the mean cardiac SUVmax was 5.1, and heart/liver SUVmax was 2.7. In 30 adults for metabolic response, the mean heart was SUVmax 6.9, and a heart/liver SUVmax of 3.3. Student t - tests showed significant differences between cardiac SUVmax (P < .001) in paediatric and adult patients and for SUVmax cardiac/liver ratio (P<.01), but not for initial staging and therapeutic response.Conclusions: Heart 18F-FDG uptake was found to be significantly lower in children; which may become an advantage when studying cardiac diseases in children. It follows that fasting could be sufficient in the preparation of children when studying cardiac disease, no fat diet or heparin being necessary. (C) 2014 ACTEDI. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. All rights reserved.