Every year, more than 10 million new cases of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) are diagnosed worldwide. Following myocardial infarction and stroke, venous thromboembolism (VTE) stands as the third leading cause of cardiovascular mortality. Furthermore, among hospitalized patients, it remains the most common yet preventable factor contributing to in-hospital lethality.
In managing this perilous medical cascade, time is of the essence. Swift identification of thrombi ensures the timely initiation of therapy, significantly improving patient survival rates.
An innovation presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) 2026 Annual Meeting is poised to reshape current diagnostic paradigms. This pioneering method secured the congress’s most prestigious accolade—the “Image of the Year.” The work achieved this distinction by emerging victorious from a competitive field of nearly 1,500 scientific abstracts.
Direct Thrombus Visualization
The novel radiopharmaceutical, designated as , was specifically engineered to target and bind to activated platelets, which serve as the primary structural components of blood clots. Following intravenous administration, the agent directly illuminates thrombi from within during PET/CT scanning, regardless of their anatomical localization.
This mechanism represents the core breakthrough of the technology. Rather than inferring the presence of a thrombus through indirect, structural changes in the surrounding vasculature, PET/CT delineates the actual pathological substrate, pinpointing its precise coordinates, volume, and spatial distribution.
Because PET imaging serves as a universal method for whole-body scanning, a single procedure enables the simultaneous evaluation of the vascular beds in both the lower extremities and the pulmonary vasculature.
Key Findings of the Study
Led by Dr. Sangwon Han, the study enrolled 46 patients presenting with symptomatic thrombosis. Each participant underwent PET/CT imaging. To eliminate interpretive bias, the scans were evaluated using a blinded method by three independent nuclear medicine experts who had no prior knowledge of the patients’ clinical histories.
The study yielded the following clinical insights:
In the Femoral Segment: The tracer’s diagnostic efficacy fully matched that of standard venous duplex ultrasonography.
In the Crural (Lower Leg) Zone: The method demonstrated high accuracy in distal anatomical areas where conventional ultrasound frequently reaches its methodological limitations.
In the Pulmonary Artery: The imaging system successfully detected pulmonary embolisms, even in complex cases involving concurrent thromboembolic disease in both the lungs and lower extremities.
The clinical protocol also included rigorous monitoring of the agent’s safety profile. The novel radiopharmaceutical was well-tolerated by patients, with no drug-related adverse events or toxicities reported throughout the duration of the study.
“These findings suggest that a single whole-body PET scan could accurately evaluate clots in both the legs and lungs at the same time, potentially reducing the need for multiple tests while improving patient convenience,” notes Dr. Han.
Future Outlook
Nevertheless, this research is still in its early stages. While a cohort of 46 patients is sufficient for initial clinical validation, it is modest for definitive conclusions.
has already successfully completed Phase II clinical trials for deep vein thrombosis and has been evaluated in smaller pilot studies targeting embolic stroke and cardiovascular diseases. The next logical milestone involves larger, multicenter Phase III clinical trials designed to validate these findings across more diverse patient cohorts and clinical settings.
Should these larger trials prove successful, researchers anticipate that this technology will be integrated into routine clinical practice within the next five to ten years.
Source: SNMMI
