Introduction:

prosthetic valve degeneration is a relevant clinical disorder; conventional imaging methods allow diagnosis in the later stages. 18Ffluoride positron emission tomography (PET) can detect subclinical degeneration earlier.

Objective:

correlate parameters of prosthetic structural deterioration by PET with echocardiographic hemodynamic parameters one year after aortic valve replacement (AVR) by porcine bioprosthesis.

Methods:

prospective ad hoc study of a clinical trial. Patients undergoing AVR by porcine bioprosthesis were recruited in two national centers between 01/01/2019 and 02/13/2020. Clinical and echocardiographic controls were carried out. 19 subjects were randomly selected and underwent 18Fsodium fluoride PET with CT angiography one year after AVR. Tracer uptake in the valve (SUVavV) and right atrium (SUVavA) was measured, creating the SUVavV/SUVavA index, which was compared with the mean and maximum gradients at one year, using Spearman’s correlation analysis.

Results:

of a total of 140 subjects, PET was performed on 19 at 16.3 months (15.9-16.9) after the AVR. The median SUVavV/SUVavA ratio was 1.17 (1.11-1.27). A moderate negative correlation was found between. 18Ffluoride uptake and the mean gradient (correlation coefficient -0.516, p = 0.028) and maximum (coefficient of -0.589, p = 0.010) at one year.

Conclusions:

we found low uptake values in PET, echocardiographic gradients in normal range and no positive correlation between both parameters. It is the first national report with these imaging techniques.

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