Visualization of the cervical spinal cord with FDG and high-resolution PET

Purpose: Our aim was to evaluate the visibility of the cervical spinal cord with [F-18]2-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG) and a high-resolution PET scanner and to quantify the glucose utilization by the cervical cord. Method: Twenty-one normal subjects and three cervical myelopathy patients were studied. The visibility of the cervical spinal cord in sagittal and coronal sections was evaluated. The metabolic rate of glucose (MRGlu) and standardized uptake value (SUV) of FDG in the cord were calculated. Results: The entire cervical spinal cord was clearly visualized in 57% of the subjects: the upper cord in 81%, the middle cord in 73%, and the lower cord in 57%. The MRGlu of the normal cord was 1.93 +/- 0.37 mg/100 g/min. SUV was constant across all the vertebral levels and negatively correlated with subject age. In the myelopathy patients, the SUV of the entire cervical cord was lower than in the age-matched normal subjects. Conclusion: These preliminary results indicate that the cervical spinal cord can be visualized as a normal structure in routine head and neck PET imaging and that FDG-PET may provide quantitative information about spinal cord disorders.