Figure 1
Recruitment of study patients and controls. Vascular 18-F FDG PET/CT was completed in 30 patients; 29 study patients and one control patient. The 30 complete data sets were eligible for inter-observer variability assessment.
Figure 2
Standard uptake values measurements at various levels of axial slices of the ascending aorta. The SUVmax is depicted as M and SUVmean as Av.
Table 1
Baseline Characteristics of Patients With Acute COVID-19 (N = 33).
| PATIENTS | |
|---|---|
| Demographics and past medical history | |
| Age, y | 51 [34–56] |
| Current/exsmokers | 6 (18.2) |
| Diabetes | 10 (31) |
| Hypertension | 11 (33) |
| HIV | 4 (13) |
| Clinical assessments | |
| Symptom duration, days | 4 [2–7] |
| Systolic BP, mm Hg | 127 [120–136] |
| Diastolic BP, mm Hg | 78 [70–85] |
| Heart rate, bpm | 88 [80–92] |
| COVID-19 treatments | |
| Oxygen requirement | 19 (58) |
| Remdesevir | 4 (13) |
| Dexamethasone | 15 (47) |
| Laboratory measurements | |
| Creatinine, μmol/L | 97 [60–108] |
| C-reactive protein, mg/L | 55 [25–101] |
| NT-proBNP, pg/mL | 35 [28–151] |
| Troponin, ng/L | 3.88 [2.76–7.18] |
[i] Data are provided as number (percentage) or median [interquartile range]. BP indicates blood pressure; NT-proBNP, N-terminal pro–brain natriuretic peptide; and PCR, polymerase chain reaction.
Table 2
Kappa measures of agreements for the Ascending Aorta.
| OBSERVER Y | TOTAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABSENT | PRESENT | |||
| Observer X | Absent | 20 | 0 | 20 |
| Present | 1 | 9 | 10 | |
| Total | 21 | 9 | 30 | |
[i] Kappa: 0.92 (95%CI:0.78–1.0).
Table 3
Kappa measures of agreements for the Aortic Arch.
| OBSERVER Y | TOTAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABSENT | PRESENT | |||
| Observer X | Absent | 11 | 1 | 18 |
| Present | 2 | 10 | 12 | |
| Total | 19 | 11 | 30 | |
[i] Kappa: 0.79 (95%CI:0.56–1.0).
Table 4
Kappa measures of agreements for the Descending Aorta.
| OBSERVER Y | TOTAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABSENT | PRESENT | |||
| Observer X | Absent | 22 | 0 | 22 |
| Present | 1 | 7 | 8 | |
| Total | 23 | 7 | 30 | |
[i] Kappa: 0.91 (95%CI:0.74–1.0).
Figure 3
Mean Standardized uptake values (SUVmean) for different regions.
Figure 4
Maximum Standardized uptake values (SUVmax) for different regions.
Table 5
Kappa agreement for SUVmean and SUVmax with corresponding 95%CI.
| REGION | SUVMEAN | SUVMAX | ALL | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KAPPA | 95%CI | KAPPA | 95%CI | KAPPA | 95%CI | |
| Aa | 0.86 | 0.24–0.95 | 0.46 | 0.037–0.71 | 0.92 | 0.78–0.99 |
| Arch | 0.86 | 0.72–0.92 | 0.32 | 0.091–0.49 | 0.79 | 0.56–0.99 |
| Da | 0.85 | 0.53–0.93 | 0.34 | 0.087–0.53 | 0.91 | 0.74–0.99 |
Table 6
Linear mixed effects model estimates for variance and residuals across all the regions.
| REGION | SUV MEAN | SUV MAX | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SUBJECT VARIANCE (SD) | RESIDUAL (SD) | SUBJECT VARIANCE (SD) | RESIDUAL (SD) | |
| Ascending aorta | 0.011 (0.0105) | 0.009 (0.094) | 0.089 (0.299) | 0.072 (0.268) |
| Aortic arch | 0.102 (0.319) | 0.013 (0.114) | 0.249 (0.500) | 0.448 (0.669) |
| Descending aorta | 0.033 (0.182) | 0.013 (0.116) | 0.519 (0.721) | 0.210 (0.459) |