Efficacy of heparin loading during an 18F-FDG PET/CT examination to search for cardiac sarcoidosis activity

Clin Nucl Med. 2013 Feb;38(2):128-30. doi: 10.1097/RLU.0b013e318266cb25.

Abstract

A 65-year-old woman with a complete atrioventricular block was diagnosed as having cardiac sarcoidosis. (18)F-FDG PET/CT imaging without unfractionated heparin loading revealed systemic abnormal uptake indicating sarcoidosis. However, the cardiac lesions were vague because of the physiological FDG uptake. One month later, (18)F-FDG PET/CT using heparin loading was performed to evaluate the lesion activity prior to the start of steroid administration. (18)F-FDG PET/CT imaging with heparin loading showed the cardiac lesions more clearly and suppressed the FDG uptake in normal myocardium. Heparin loading during FDG PET/CT may be useful for detecting cardiac involvement in patients with cardiac sarcoidosis.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Cardiomyopathies / diagnostic imaging*
  • Cardiomyopathies / metabolism*
  • Female
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18*
  • Heparin / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Multimodal Imaging*
  • Positron-Emission Tomography*
  • Sarcoidosis / diagnostic imaging*
  • Sarcoidosis / metabolism*
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed*

Substances

  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
  • Heparin