Carotid PET/MRI With DOTATATE in Patients Post Head and Neck Radiation Therapy
Carotid PET/MRI With DOTATATE in Patients Post Head and Neck Radiation Therapy
The improvement of comprehensive multi-modality treatment and radiotherapy (RT) technology
 has resulted in an improved survival rate of head and neck malignancies within recent
 decades. As survival increases, late toxicity from cancer therapy becomes a larger burden.
 Radiation induced vascular injury following RT is a recognized complication of radiotherapy.
 Diagnosis of vascular changes predominately relies on non-invasive imaging techniques.
 Doppler ultrasound assessment has been proven as a good indicator of diffuse atherosclerotic
 disease and a significant predictor of future vascular events. New opportunities are provided
 by the recent introduction of the hybrid PET/MRI scanners for investigating the synergistic
 effect of these two modalities without the challenge of image co-registration. It has been
 shown that the PET system integrated with the MRI scanner performs the same as the PET
 portion of a PET/CT for various cancers and cardiovascular indications. MRI allows better
 delineation of the carotid artery and atherosclerotic plaque when compared with CT due to the
 superior soft tissue contrast. The PET/MRI system acquires the PET and MRI simultaneously
 allowing for perfect alignment between the 2 sets of images, when compared with the
 sequential acquisition in PET/CT where minor head movements can cause misalignment. There is
 evidence in the literature that 68-Ga DOTA-TATE PET-imaging can serve as a surrogate marker
 for evidence of invasion into the vessel wall and thereby possibly detects early, developing
 atherosclerotic plaque. Thus, combined PET and MR with 68-Ga DOTA-TATE should be a promising
 imaging tool to screen and characterize patients at risk for radiation induced carotid
 injury.

 In this study, DOTATATE-PET/MR will be performed in up to 60 patients with a history of
 radiation therapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma over 2 years.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  previously treated with radiation for head and neck malignancy;

 -  Age Group: ≥30 years;

 -  Patients who have no contraindications to PET/MRI;

 -  No allergy to contrast agents.

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  Pregnant females;

 -  Age group: < 30 years;

 -  Allergy to MR contrast agents;

 -  Pacemakers/ICD/Claustrophobic patients.