The feasibility of (11)C-PIB-PET/CT for amyloid plaque burden: validation of the effectiveness of CT-based partial volume correction.

INTRODUCTION: Amyloid positron-emission tomography (PET) imaging with (11)C-Pittsburgh compound B (PiB) is an effective tool for assessing brain amyloid deposits. PET imaging, however, can suffer from the partial volume effect (PVE). PVE has been corrected using MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) image data. However, correction of the PVE of PET using MRI usually requires two separate procedures, imposing a burden on patients and leading to low throughput and inefficient diagnoses. The advent of PET/computed tomography (PET/CT) may potentially overcome these problems and offer higher throughput and reliable quantification of amyloid plaques and assessment of Alzheimer disease (AD).

METHODS: We investigated the feasibility of correcting PVE in amyloid PET using CT, obtained by PET/CT, instead of MRI. We demonstrated the efficacy of partial volume correction (PVC) based on CT by comparing the results of CT-based PVC and those of MRI-based PVC using images acquired from AD patients and controls.

RESULTS: Both methods were able to perform PVC. Slight but significant differences between standard uptake volume ratio (SUVR) values were noted between the two modalities; these were attenuated by constant multiplication.

CONCLUSION: CT will potentially replace MRI for PVC, allowing the use of a single PET/CT scanner for amyloid plaque quantitation.