| Radiographics 1999 Jul;19(4):915-926 |
SPECT and PET in the evaluation of coronary artery disease.
Jadvar H, Strauss HW, Segall GM.
Cardiac positron emission tomography (PET) is an accurate method for assessing myocardial
perfusion and metabolism in the evaluation of coronary heart disease. PET allows more
accurate detection of myocardial ischemia than single photon emission tomography (SPECT).
In addition, PET has higher spatial resolution and allows attenuation correction and the
quantification of various physiologic parameters. PET with 2-(fluorine-18)
fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose is considered the standard of reference for predicting
improvement in regional or global left ventricular function after revascularization by
identifying hibernating viable myocardium that shows diminished perfusion and preserved
metabolism. Other less commonly used clinical applications of cardiac PET include
assessment of myocardial oxygen consumption and fatty acid metabolism. The use of PET in
myocardial imaging is expected to increase in the near future with the regional
distribution of positron-emitting radiotracers and the emergence of relatively low-cost
PET systems.
