Diagnostic accuracy of rubidium-82 myocardial perfusion imaging with hybrid positron emission tomography/computed tomography in the detection of coronary artery disease

J Am Coll Cardiol. 2007 Mar 13;49(10):1052-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2006.12.015. Epub 2007 Feb 26.

Abstract

Objectives: Our objective was to determine the accuracy of rubidium-82 myocardial perfusion positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) imaging for detecting obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD).

Background: Hybrid PET-CT is a new noninvasive imaging modality for evaluating patients with known or suspected CAD.

Methods: We evaluated 64 consecutive patients with suspected CAD undergoing rest-stress rubidium-82 cardiac PET-CT (CT was only used for attenuation correction) and coronary angiography within 7 days (range 1 to 180 days). Patients with known CAD, previous myocardial infarction, or revascularization were excluded. Thirty-eight patients with a low likelihood for CAD were also studied. Obstructive CAD was defined as > or =70% diameter stenosis on angiography.

Results: The mean age of the patients was 62 +/- 15 years, with a body mass index of 31 +/- 8 kg/m2. Chest pain and/or dyspnea were the predominant reasons for evaluation. Stress perfusion defects were detected in 41 of 44 patients with obstructive CAD (sensitivity 93%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 87 to 99). The specificity of PET-CT was 83% (48 of 58, 95% CI 71 to 91), and its overall diagnostic accuracy was 87% (95% CI 79 to 93). All patients with a low likelihood for CAD showed normal scans, for a normalcy rate of 100% (38 of 38, 95% CI 91 to 100). The sensitivity for detecting CAD in patients with single and multivessel (> or =2 vessels) disease was 92% (22 of 24, 95% CI 74 to 99) and 95% (19 of 20, 95% CI 74 to 99), respectively.

Conclusions: Myocardial perfusion PET-CT affords high sensitivity and overall accuracy for detecting CAD, including patients with single-vessel disease, women, and obese patients.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Confidence Intervals
  • Coronary Angiography
  • Coronary Artery Disease / diagnosis
  • Coronary Artery Disease / diagnostic imaging*
  • Coronary Stenosis / diagnostic imaging
  • Exercise Test / methods*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Observer Variation
  • Positron-Emission Tomography*
  • Prospective Studies
  • Rubidium Radioisotopes*
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Substances

  • Rubidium Radioisotopes