Correlation between Semiquantitative Myocardial Perfusion Score and Absolute Myocardial Blood Flow in 13N-Ammonia PET / 핵의학분자영상

PURPOSE: 13N-ammonia is a well known radiopharmaceutical for the measurement of a myocardial blood flow (MBF) non-invasively using PET-CT. In this study, we investigated a correlation between MBF obtained from dynamic imaging and myocardial perfusion score (MPS) obtained from static imaging for usefulness of cardiac PET study. METHODS: Twelve patients (11 males, 1 female, 57.9+/-8.6 years old) with suspicious coronary artery disease underwent PET-CT scan. Dynamic scans (6 min: 5 sec X 12, 10 sec X 6, 20 sec X 3, and 30 sec X 6) were initiated simultaneously with bolus injection of 11 MBq/kg 13N-ammonia to acquire rest and stress image. Gating image was acquired during 13 minutes continuously. Nine-segment model (4 basal walls, 4 mid walls, and apex) was used for a measurement of MBF. Time activity curve of input function and myocardium was extracted from ROI methods in 9 regions for quantification. The MPS were evaluated using quantitative analysis software. To compare between 20-segment model and 9-segment model, 6 basal segments were excluded and averaged segmental scores were used. RESULTS: There are weak correlation between MBF (rest, 0.18-2.38 ml/min/g; stress, 0.40-4.95 ml/min/g) and MPS (rest 22-91%, stress, 14-90%), however the correlation coefficient between corrected MBF and MPS in rest state was higher than stress state (rest r=0.59; stress r=0.80). As a thickening increased, correlation between MBF and MPS also showed good correlation at each segments. CONCLUSIONS: Corrected and translated MPS as its characteristics using 13N-ammonia showed good correlation with absolute MBF measured by dynamic image in this study. Therefore, we showed MPS is one of good indices which reflect MBF. We anticipate PET-CT could be used as useful tool for evaluation of myocardial function in nuclear cardiac study.

Evaluation of Myocardial Blood Flow and Coronary Flow Reserve Using Positron Emission Tomography / 대한핵의학회잡지

Positron emission tomography (PET) serves as a gold standard for noninvasive in vivo measurement of myocardial blood flow (MBF) and coronary flow reserve (CFR). CFR can be defined as the ratio of maximally vasodilated MBF over its basal flow. It is an important parameter for the evaluation of functional severity of coronary stenosis and prognositification in various diseases such as dilated cardiomyopathy. 13NH3, H215O, 82Rb are widely used radiopharmaceuticals for measuring MBF and CFR, This review introduces imaging techniques and its clinical utility. Cardiac application of PET and PET/CT is expected to be increased in near future.

PET and PET/CT in Clinical Cardiology / 대한핵의학회잡지

Cardiac PET emerged as a powerful tool that allowed in vivo quantification of physiologic processes including myocardial perfusion and metabolism, as well as neuronal and receptor function for more than 25 years. Now PET imaging has been playing an important role in the clinical evaluation of patients with known or suspected ischemic heart disease. This important clinical role is expected to grow with the availability of PET/CT scanner that allow a true integration of structure and function. The objective of this review is to provide an update on the current and future role of PET in clinical cardiology with a special eye on the great opportunities now offered by PET/CT.