Fluoro-D-glucose-micro positron emission tomography as a diagnostic tool to confirm brain death in a murine donor lung injury model

PurposeBecause brain death (BD)-related donor lung injury is still poorly understood, a reliable mouse model can help in understanding the immunologic mechanisms behind this lung injury. The purpose of our study was to validate BD in mice using small-animal positron emission tomography.ProceduresBD was induced in male Balb/c mice (27.1 ± 0.9 g) with an intracranial balloon catheter inflated rapidly (<1 min) [BD]R or gradually (36 ± 5 min) [BD]G, and compared with sham-operated [SH] and control animals [C] (n = 6/group). Ten minutes after balloon insertion 10.4 ± 1.0 MBq 2-deoxy-2-[18F]-fluoro-D-glucose (18FDG) was administered intravenously and static images were performed and quantified.ResultsCoronal, sagittal, and transaxial sections of cerebral 18FDG activity revealed significant differences when comparing [BD]R and [BD]G with [C] and [SH] animals. No significant 18FDG uptake was visually detectable in [BD]R and [BD]G.The percentage injected dose showed significant differences between BD groups and [C] and [SH] (P < 0.0001). No significant difference was seen between [C] versus [SH] nor between [BD]Rversus [BD]G (P > 0.05).Conclusions18FDG micro positron emission tomography imaging is a valuable tool to demonstrate brain functionality and can therefore be used as a surrogate test to confirm BD in mice.