RESEARCH ARTICLE
Increased Fluorodeoxyglucose Uptake Following Endovascular Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair: A Predictor of Endoleak?
Kosmas I Paraskevas1, *, Alexandros A Tzovaras2, Vassilios Stathopoulos3, Fotini Gentimi4, Dimitri P Mikhailidis5
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2010Volume: 4
First Page: 117
Last Page: 119
Publisher ID: TOCMJ-4-117
DOI: 10.2174/1874192401004010117
Article History:
Received Date: 24/2/2010Revision Received Date: 9/3/2010
Acceptance Date: 11/3/2010
Electronic publication date: 8/4/2010
Collection year: 2010

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
The main criterion for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair is an AAA diameter ≥5.5 cm. However, some AAAs rupture when they are smaller. Size alone may therefore not be a sufficient criterion to determine rupture risk. Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake is increased in the presence of inflammation and it was suggested that this may be a better predictor of rupture risk than AAA size. Furthermore, increased FDG uptake following endovascular AAA repair may be an indirect predictor of continuous AAA sac enlargement due to the presence of an endoleak (even if this is not detected by imaging modalities) and/or increased AAA rupture risk. The role of FDG uptake needs to be explored further in the management of AAAs.