A strong relationship exists between the severity of carotid stenosis and early stroke risk. Inflammation is believed to be an important event for atherosclerotic plaque destabilization and subsequent thromboembolism. (18)F-FDG can image atherosclerotic inflammation, providing information about plaque biology, which may serve as a useful biomarker for the assessment of early stroke risk.
Keywords: PET/CT; acute ischemic stroke; carotid stenosis; plaque inflammation.
© 2015 by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Inc.