The positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) tracer 18F-GP1 has high image quality and a high rate of detection for acute venous thromboembolism (VTE), according to Korean researchers at the University of Ulsan College of Medicine.

The study, which was recently published in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, explains how 18F-GP1 can also find blood clots in the distal veins of the leg below the knee, a place where conventional imaging is said to be limited.

Deep-vein thrombosis of the leg or pelvis and its potentially fatal complication, pulmonary embolism, are all components of acute VTE. Signs and side effects of VTE are exceptionally factor and vague, which frequently brings about a deferred or mistaken conclusion.
Dr. Dae Hyuk Moon, a professor at the Asan Medical Center, stated: Traditional imaging with ultrasonography, CT venography or CT aspiratory angiography is normally incapable to recognize old thromboemboli from new and possibly shaky thromboemboli.

"The 18F-GP1 tracer used in this study provides the one-of-a-kind capability of detecting, defining, and tracking newly formed thrombi with a high risk of embolization and further complications."

In order to obtain clinical proof-of-concept for thrombus PET imaging using 18F-GP1, the researchers carried out a prospective study. In 20 patients with acute deep-vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism, they tested the safety and diagnostic capabilities of 18F-GP1 PET/CT. Every patient previously had signs or side effects of VTE and had at least one VTE foci affirmed by standard imaging.

The researchers were able to easily distinguish 18F-GP1 uptake in thromboemboli from the blood pool when they reviewed the images taken during the study. P-selectin expression on circulating platelets was also positively correlated with 18F-GP1 uptake, indicating the presence of activated platelets and acute VTE.

The imaging tracer showed an expanded take-up in the distal veins of the leg in 12 patients that had not been identified with ordinary imaging. Thromboembolic foci was additionally identified by 18F-GP1 PET/CT in each of the 20 of the members.
Moon continued, Incorrectly concluding that VTE is absent places the patient at high risk of potentially fatal pulmonary embolism, while incorrectly diagnosing VTE commits the patient to unnecessary anticoagulation and increases risk and costs.

Although the current studies are in their infancy, 18F-GP1 PET/CT may provide information on the risk of clot growth or embolization in addition to more precise anatomic localization. This may necessitate tailoring the individual patient's clinical treatment.