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Quantification of Myocardial Blood Flow with CZT SPECT Imaging: Is It Ready for Clinical Use?

  • Cardiac Nuclear Imaging (Alberto Cuocolo and Mario Petretta, Section Editors)
  • Published:
Current Cardiovascular Imaging Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

Myocardial blood flow (MBF) quantification with positron emission tomography (PET) is well validated and has established diagnostic and prognostic value for patient management. New cardiac dedicated solid-state single-photon emission tomography (SPECT) cameras using cadmium-zinc-telluride (CZT) crystals have better temporal and spatial resolution and increased count sensitivity than conventional SPECT systems and can measure MBF. We review recent validation studies using CZT technology for measurement of MBF and assess its readiness for clinical application.

Recent Findings

One preclinical study showed the accuracy of MBF measured using the CZT technology and conventional radiotracers versus microsphere data. Clinical studies have demonstrated the feasibility in patients and excellent correlations with coronary angiography and flow-wire studies, and PET imaging.

Summary

Measurement of MBF is possible with SPECT CZT systems and has been validated. Further studies are necessary to confirm the incremental value of MBF measurements with SPECT CZT to standard relative perfusion imaging for diagnostic accuracy and risk stratification.

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Abbreviations

CAD:

coronary artery disease

CZT:

cadmium-zinc-telluride

PET:

positron emission tomography

MBF:

myocardial blood flow

MBFR:

myocardial blood flow reserve

SPECT:

single-photon emission tomography

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Cardiology, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, 40 Ruskin Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1Y 4W7, Canada

    Fernanda Erthal, R Glenn Wells & Terrence D. Ruddy

  2. Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    Fernanda Erthal, R Glenn Wells & Terrence D. Ruddy

  3. Department of Cardiology, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Ronaldo Lima

  4. Nuclear Medicine, Clínica de Diagnóstico por Imagem, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Ronaldo Lima

Authors
  1. Fernanda Erthal
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  2. Ronaldo Lima
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  3. R Glenn Wells
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  4. Terrence D. Ruddy
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Terrence D. Ruddy.

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Conflict of Interest

Fernanda Erthal and Ronaldo Lima declare that they have no conflict of interest.

R. Glenn Wells reports grants from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and grants, non-financial support, and speaker honorarium from GE Healthcare, during the conduct of the study. He also reports grants from Advanced Accelerator Applications, outside the submitted work.

Terrence D. Ruddy reports grants from GE Healthcare, during the conduct of the study. He also reports grants from Advanced Accelerator Applications International and honoraria from GE Healthcare, outside the submitted work.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is a part of Topical Collection on Cardiac Nuclear Imaging

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Erthal, F., Lima, R., Glenn Wells, R. et al. Quantification of Myocardial Blood Flow with CZT SPECT Imaging: Is It Ready for Clinical Use?. Curr Cardiovasc Imaging Rep 10, 34 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12410-017-9432-2

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