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Figure legend: Comparison of liver maximum target-to-blood pool ratio (M-TBR) in control and NAFLD groups subcategorized according to cardiovascular events. Bars are mean ± SD. Mann-Whitney test was used for comparisons between groups. 

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Hepatic F-18 fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG) uptake is associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) which is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. However, the value of hepatic FDG uptake for predicting future cardiovascular events has not been explored.

METHODS AND RESULTS:

Study participants were 815 consecutive asymptomatic participants who underwent a health screening program that included FDG positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT), abdominal ultrasonography, and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) measurements (age 51.8 ± 6.0 year; males 93.9%). We measured hepatic FDG uptake and assessed the prognostic significance of this parameter with other cardiovascular risk factors including Framingham risk score and CIMT. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards analyses including all study participants revealed that NAFLD with high-hepatic FDG uptake was the only independent predictor for future cardiovascular events [hazard ratio (HR) 4.23; 95% CI 1.05-17.04; P = .043). Subgroup analysis conducted in the NAFLD group showed that high-hepatic FDG uptake was a significant independent predictor of cardiovascular events (HR 9.29; 95% CI 1.05-81.04; P = .045).

CONCLUSIONS:

This exploratory study suggests that high-hepatic FDG uptake may be a useful prognostic factor for cardiovascular events in individuals with NAFLD.

Author information​

Moon SH1, Hong SP1, Cho YS1, Noh TS1, Choi JY1, Kim BT1, Lee KH2.

1 Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 50 Irwon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 135-710, Republic of Korea.

2 Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 50 Irwon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, 135-710, Republic of Korea. khnm.lee@samsung.com.