Background: This pilot study is aimed to perform a pilot visualization study to investigate in vivo fibroblast activation in non-ischemic cardiomyopathies by 68Ga-FAPI-04 PET/CT.
Methods: Twenty-nine consecutive patients with symptomatic non-ischemic cardiomyopathies who underwent 68Ga-FAPI-04 PET/CT were prospectively recruited. Clinical characteristics and echocardiographic parameters were recorded. Cardiac uptake was quantified by standardized uptake values (SUVmax, SUVmean, SUVR) and left ventricular metabolism volume. The relationship between 68Ga-FAPI-04 uptake with clinical and echocardiography parameters was investigated.
Results: Heterogeneous 68Ga-FAPI-04 uptake was observed in different subtypes of non-ischemic cardiomyopathies. Twenty-two (75.9%) patients showed elevated 68Ga-FAPI-04 uptake in the left ventricle, and 10 (34.5%) patients also showed slightly diffuse elevated uptake in the right ventricle. Cardiac uptake values were significantly correlated with enlarged ventricular volume evaluated by echocardiography.
Conclusion: FAPI PET/CT presents a potential value for in vivo visualization and quantification of fibroblast activation on the molecular level. Further study is warranted for investigating the theranostic and prognostic value of elevated FAP signal.
Keywords: 68Ga-FAPI-04; Non-ischemic cardiomyopathy; PET imaging.
© 2023. The Author(s).