Abstract
Background
Breast attenuation artifacts occurring with upright cadmium-zinc-telluride (CZT) cardiac imaging systems have not been well characterized.
Methods
216 consecutive patients with Single Photon Emission Computerized Tomography myocardial perfusion imaging and no angiographically significant obstructive coronary artery disease were identified. All upright and supine SPECT images as well as coronary angiograms were reviewed and analyzed in blinded fashion.
Results
In women imaged upright, more visual false positive defects were noted in the inferior wall compared to the anterior wall (26 vs. 10 at rest, p = 0.006, and 33 vs. 13 at stress, p < 0.001). Visual inferior wall defects were more common in the upright than supine position at stress (33 vs. 23, p = 0.018) and rest (26 vs. 14, p = 0.011), and most apparent in non-obese women (13 vs. 8, at stress, p = 0.059 and 11 vs. 5, at rest, p = 0.014).
Conclusions
With upright CZT myocardial perfusion imaging, women often have visible inferior wall attenuation artifact defects, likely from pendant breast tissue. These inferior wall attenuation artifacts may be seen in non-obese female patients.
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Abbreviations
- BMI:
-
Body mass index
- CZT:
-
Cadmium-zinc-telluride
- LVEF:
-
Left ventricular ejection fraction
- MPI:
-
Myocardial perfusion imaging
- SPECT:
-
Single photon emission computerized tomography
- SRS:
-
Summed rest score
- SSS:
-
Summed stress score
- TID:
-
Transient ischemic dilation
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Acknowledgement
The authors thank Marge Duke for her invaluable assistance with data management.
Funding
Funded by a grant from the John R. Strauss Fund for Research and Education in Cardiovascular Imaging.
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None of the authors have any conflicts of interest. The study is funded by a grant from the John R. Strauss Fund for Research and Education in Cardiovascular Imaging.
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Waqar, F., Athar, M.W., Dwivedi, A.K. et al. Visual patterns of breast attenuation artifacts in women and men with an upright and supine cadmiun-zinc-telluride camera. J. Nucl. Cardiol. 29, 1976–1984 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12350-021-02632-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12350-021-02632-8