Detection of Atherosclerotic Inflammation by (68)Ga-DOTATATE PET Compared to [(18)F]FDG PET Imaging

BACKGROUND: Inflammation drives atherosclerotic plaque rupture. Although inflammation can be measured using fluorine-18-labeled fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography ([(18)F]FDG PET), [(18)F]FDG lacks cell specificity, and coronary imaging is unreliable because of myocardial spillover. OBJECTIVES: This study tested the efficacy of gallium-68-labeled DOTATATE ((68)Ga-DOTATATE), a somatostatin receptor subtype-2 (SST(2))-binding PET tracer, for imaging atherosclerotic inflammation. METHODS: We confirmed (68)Ga-DOTATATE binding in macrophages and excised carotid plaques. (68)Ga-DOTATATE PET imaging was compared to [(18)F]FDG PET imaging in 42 patients with atherosclerosis. RESULTS: Target SSTR2 gene expression occurred exclusively in “proinflammatory” M1 macrophages, specific (68)Ga-DOTATATE ligand binding to SST(2) receptors occurred in CD68-positive macrophage-rich carotid plaque regions, and carotid SSTR2 mRNA was highly correlated with in vivo (68)Ga-DOTATATE PET signals (r = 0.89; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.28 to 0.99; p = 0.02). (68)Ga-DOTATATE mean of maximum tissue-to-blood ratios (mTBR(max)) correctly identified culprit versus nonculprit arteries in patients with acute coronary syndrome (median difference: 0.69; interquartile range [IQR]: 0.22 to 1.15; p = 0.008) and transient ischemic attack/stroke (median difference: 0.13; IQR: 0.07 to 0.32; p = 0.003). (68)Ga-DOTATATE mTBR(max) predicted high-risk coronary computed tomography features (receiver operating characteristics area under the curve [ROC AUC]: 0.86; 95% CI: 0.80 to 0.92; p < 0.0001), and correlated with Framingham risk score (r = 0.53; 95% CI: 0.32 to 0.69; p <0.0001) and [(18)F]FDG uptake (r = 0.73; 95% CI: 0.64 to 0.81; p < 0.0001). [(18)F]FDG mTBR(max) differentiated culprit from nonculprit carotid lesions (median difference: 0.12; IQR: 0.0 to 0.23; p = 0.008) and high-risk from lower-risk coronary arteries (ROC AUC: 0.76; 95% CI: 0.62 to 0.91; p = 0.002); however, myocardial [(18)F]FDG spillover rendered coronary [(18)F]FDG scans uninterpretable in 27 patients (64%). Coronary (68)Ga-DOTATATE PET scans were readable in all patients. CONCLUSIONS: We validated (68)Ga-DOTATATE PET as a novel marker of atherosclerotic inflammation and confirmed that (68)Ga-DOTATATE offers superior coronary imaging, excellent macrophage specificity, and better power to discriminate high-risk versus low-risk coronary lesions than [(18)F]FDG. (Vascular Inflammation Imaging Using Somatostatin Receptor Positron Emission Tomography [VISION]; NCT02021188)