A comparison of adenosine and arbutamine for myocardial perfusion imaging

Nuclear Cardiology: Present and Future

Nuclear cardiology has made significant advances since the first reports of planar scintigraphy for the evaluation of left ventricular perfusion and function. While the current "state of the art" of gated myocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomographic (SPECT) imaging offers invaluable diagnostic and prognostic information for the evaluation of patients with suspected or known coronary artery disease (CAD), advances in the cellular and molecular biology of the cardiovascular system have helped to usher in a new modality in nuclear cardiology, namely, molecular imaging. In this review, we will discuss the current state of the art in nuclear cardiology, which includes SPECT and positron emission tomographic evaluation of myocardial perfusion, evaluation of left ventricular function by gated myocardial perfusion SPECT and gated blood pool SPECT, and the evaluation of myocardial viability with PET and SPECT methods. In addition, we will discuss the future of nuclear cardiology and the role that molecular imaging will play in the early detection of CAD at the level of the vulnerable plaque, the evaluation of cardiac remodeling, and monitoring of important new therapies including gene therapy and stem cell therapy.

Accuracy and reproducibility of left ventricular function from quantitative, gated, single photon emission computed tomography using dynamic myocardial phantoms: effect of pre-reconstruction filters

We have investigated the accuracy and reproducibility of left ventricular (LV) functions using quantitative, gated, single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) software dependent on critical frequencies of pre-reconstruction filters. This study incorporated dynamic myocardial phantoms (myocardial and cone shapes). Gated SPECT of 8-interval sets were pre-filtered with Butterworth filters (critical frequency varying between 0.16 and 1.16 cycles/cm, order 5) and with no filter. Phantoms were repositioned, and SPECT acquisitions were repeated. As the critical frequency increased, the estimated LV volume increased to reach a plateau at the level of the critical frequency, 0.54 cycles/cm. Conversely, the values of ejection fractions, wall motion and wall thickening with different filters which used critical frequency of > or =0.39 cycles/cm remained unchanged. However, LV functions and volumes were underestimated when any pre-reconstruction filter was used. Standard deviations of LV functions after repeated measurements were unaffected by different filters with critical frequencies of > or =0.39 cycles/cm. Standard deviations of LV volume, ejection fraction, wall motion and wall thickening were <2.2 ml, <0.9%, <0.6 mm and <8.7%, respectively. Therefore, with the exception of low critical frequencies, LV functions and volumes were highly reproducible when these routine reconstruction filters were used.

Assessment of adenosine, arbutamine and dobutamine as pharmacological stress agents during (99m)Tc-tetrofosmin SPECT imaging: a randomized study

We evaluated the use of adenosine, dobutamine and arbutamine with (99m)Tc-tetrofosmin myocardial perfusion imaging. Forty patients under investigation for suspected coronary artery disease were recruited. Each had a resting scan and two separate stress scans on different days, in a randomized cross-over study. Resultant images were blindly reported in 13 segments per scan as normal, reversible or fixed defects. A score was given (0-3) for segmental defect severity. Haemodynamic responses were as expected for each agent. Subjective side effect scores did not differ overall between agents. Adenosine caused a significantly higher incidence of abnormal taste (54%) than dobutamine and arbutamine (both 23%) and a lower incidence of palpitations (25% vs 69% and 54%, respectively), all P<0.05. Arbutamine caused significantly more chest pain than adenosine (77% vs 46%) though less flushing (35% vs 68%), both P<0.05. Comparison of the results obtained showed highly significant levels of segmental agreement for visual and semi-quantitative analysis between adenosine and arbutamine, kappa value and correlation coefficient of 0.78 and 0.86, respectively, dobutamine and adenosine 0.69 and 0.78, and arbutamine and dobutamine 0.75 and 0.78, all P<0.0001. Adenosine, arbutamine and dobutamine differ in their haemodynamic response and side effect profile but provide highly comparable results during (99m)Tc SPECT imaging.

Comparison of adenosine and exercise stress test for quantitative perfusion imaging in patients on beta-blocker therapy

Beta-blocker therapy is used to decrease myocardial ischemia during exercise but may cause suboptimal diagnostic performance in exercise stress testing. The aim of the present study was to compare results of quantitative technetium-99-sestamibi single photon emission tomography (SPECT), following exercise stress test or pharmacological stress test with adenosine. We chose adenosine as comparison, since betablockers may not interfere with adenosine induced vasodilatation and therefore possibly may not interfere with its diagnostic performance. Sixteen patients with angiographically documented coronary disease (5 single-vessel, 6 two-vessel and 5 three-vessel disease), who were chronically treated with beta-blockers, performed SPECT imaging at rest, following bicycle exercise and following adenosine infusion in random order. The SPECT data were analyzed visually and quantitatively, using dedicated computer software (CEqual). According to both visual and quantitative SPECT analysis, adenosine was superior to show reversibility. Higher reversibility extent (50 +/- 15 vs. 26 +/- 12 pixels, p < 0.01) and more intense reversibility severity (110 +/- 29 vs. 49 +/- 23 sum of SDs, p < 0.05) were observed during adenosine than exercise.

CONCLUSIONS

Less myocardial perfusion abnormalities during exercise than during adenosine stress in patients treated with beta-blockers may indicate less ischemia but also an impaired diagnostic performance. Thus adenosine stress test should be preferred to optimize the diagnostic sensitivity in patients during beta-blocker treatment.