Muscle fluorodeoxyglucose uptake assessed by positron emission tomography–computed tomography as a biomarker of inflammatory myopathies disease activity

Objective To devise a simple PET-CT score for measurement of muscle disease activity in patients with inflammatory myopathies (IMs) and to assess its validity. Methods A total of 44 PET-CT examinations in 34 IM patients (performed during cancer screening) and 20 PET-CT examinations in matched controls (investigated for pulmonary nodules with a conclusion of benignity) were analysed. Maximal standardized uptake values (SUVmax) were recorded...