Sensitivity and Reproducibility of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography for Assessment of Respiratory Muscle Activity

The assessment of respiratory muscle function is critical within both clinical and research settings. Tools for the assessment of respiratory muscle function are especially useful in diagnosing, phenotyping, understanding pathophysiology, and assessing treatment responses in patients with respiratory symptoms, including critically hill patients and patients with respiratory and/or neuromuscular diseases. Respiratory muscle function is most commonly assessed using flow (i.e. spirometry) and pressure measurements during spontaneous ventilation, voluntary respiratory efforts, or artificially evoked responses using magnetic or electrical stimulation. Some of these approaches may be limited within patients suffering from neuromuscular diseases. The study hypothesis is the 18F-FDG PET technology, heavily used for clinical oncology purposes (diagnostic, staging, response to treatment, prognosis), could be an interesting alternative to invasive measurement of the respiratory muscle activity. In addition, it may contribute to further validate metrics based on multiparametric ultrasound imaging.