Figure 3

The relationship between NaF uptake and neurological outcome. The correlation analysis between NaF uptake and neurological severity showed that both SUVmax (Spearman’s ρ = 0.579, p = 0.007, A) and SUVmean (Spearman’s ρ = 0.630, p = 0.003, B) were significantly correlated with the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) at admission. The NaF uptake was significantly lower among the patients with modified Rankin scale (mRS) between 0 and 2 than those with mRS greater than 2 at 3 months after stroke (0.35 [0.15–1.65] versus 1.35 [0.50–4.05], p = 0.030, Mann–Whitney U test, C). The uptake intensity of NaF was significantly correlated with white blood cell count at admission (Spearman’s ρ = 0.626, p = 0.003, D), but not with hematocrit (Spearman’s ρ = 0.259, p = 0.269, E). When the patients were dichotomized according to the imaging taken after index stroke, the uptake intensity of NaF was not significantly different between the two groups (0.55 [0.15–3.15] versus 1.75 [1.25–5.10], p = 0.35, Mann–Whitney U test, F).