Positron emission tomography (PET) is an important technique in cardiovascular research. Vascular inflammation detected by fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET has been shown to predict cardiovascular (CV) events independent of traditional risk factors and is also highly associated with overall burden of atherosclerosis. The use of PET imaging in mouse models of atherosclerosis is challenged by the reduced size of the scanned organs. However, the last generation of dedicated PET scanners has an improved spatial resolution (<1 mm) and increased sensitivity allowing those studies to be performed. Here, we describe a procedure to perform FDG-PET experiments in atherosclerosis mouse models, the required equipment for animal handling and imaging, and the tools and procedures for image analysis and validation of the results.
Keywords: Atherosclerosis; Computed tomography (CT); Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG); Positron emission tomography (PET); Small animal imaging; Vascular imaging.