Use of small animal PET-CT imaging for in vivo assessment of tendon-to-bone healing: A pilot study.

Schär, Michael O; Ma, Richard; Demange, Marco; Morgan, Matthew; Chen, Tina; Ballon, Douglas J; Dyke, Jonathan P; Deng, Xiang-Hua; Rodeo, Scott A (2022). Use of small animal PET-CT imaging for in vivo assessment of tendon-to-bone healing: A pilot study. Journal of orthopaedic surgery, 30(1), p. 23094990221076654. Sage 10.1177/23094990221076654

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BACKGROUND

The availability of non-invasive means to evaluate and monitor tendon-bone healing processes in-vivo is limited. Micro Positron-Emission-Tomography (µPET) using 18F-Fluoride is a minimally invasive imaging modality, with which osteoblast activity and bone turnover can be assessed. The aim of this study was to investigate the use of serial in-vivo µPET/CT scans to evaluate bone turnover along the graft-tunnel interface in a rat ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) reconstruction model.

METHODS

Unilateral autograft ACL reconstruction was performed in six rats. µPET/CT-scans using 18F-Fluoride were performed 7, 14, 21, and 28 days postoperatively. Standard uptake values (SUV) were calculated for three tunnel regions (intraarticular aperture (IAA), mid-tunnel, and extraarticular aperture (EAA)) of the proximal tibia. Animals were sacrificed at 28 days and evaluated with µCT and histological analysis.

RESULTS

SUVs in both bone tunnels showed an increased 18F-Fluoride uptake at 7 days when compared to 14, 21, and 28 days. SUVs showed a gradient on the tibial side, with most bone turnover in the IAA and least in the EAA. At 7, 14, 21, and 28 days, there were significantly higher SUV values in the IAA compared to the EAA (p = .01, < .01, < .01, < .01). SUVs positively correlated with new bone volumetric density obtained with μCT (r = 0.449, p = .013). Volumetric density of newly formed bone detected on μCT correlated with osteoblast numbers observed along the tunnels in histological sections (r = 0.452, p < .016).

CONCLUSIONS

Serial in-vivo µPET/CT-scanning has the potential to provide insight into bone turnover and therefore osteoblastic activity during the healing process. As a result, it allows us to directly measure the effect of interventional strategies in tendon-bone healing.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Orthopaedic, Plastic and Hand Surgery (DOPH) > Clinic of Orthopaedic Surgery

UniBE Contributor:

Schär, Michael

Subjects:

600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health

ISSN:

2309-4990

Publisher:

Sage

Language:

English

Submitter:

Pubmed Import

Date Deposited:

07 Mar 2022 13:55

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 16:12

Publisher DOI:

10.1177/23094990221076654

PubMed ID:

35245156

Uncontrolled Keywords:

18F-Fluoride ACL reconstruction Multi-modality imaging PET scan bone-tunnel healing in vivo assessment microPET/CT scan rat small animal tendon-to-bone healing

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/166584

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/166584

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