Physiological uptake of 18F-FDG in the vertebral bone marrow in healthy adults on PET/CT imaging:

Background18F-fluorodeoxyglucose *Equal contributors.positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) has proven to be a valuable imaging modality for the assessment of bone marrow condition.PurposeTo investigate the physiological uptake of 18F-FDG in the vertebral bone marrow in healthy adults on PET/CT imaging, and correlate the appearance with clinical factors including gender, body mass index, and age.Material and MethodsA total of 64 healthy individuals underwent PET/CT scan, and for each vertebral body, the mean and maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmean and SUVmax) were determined in the central slice of vertebral body on the transversal fused PET/CT image. For each individual, the FDG uptake of the four regions was obtained by averaging the SUVmean and SUVmax of the vertebrae in individual regions.ResultsThe FDG uptake from thoracic to sacral vertebrae showed an upward trend first, then a downward trend, while that of cervical vertebrae was relatively stable. The SUVmax and SU...