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Nitrate Administration Increases Blood Flow in Dysfunctional but Viable Myocardium, Leading to Improved Assessment of Myocardial Viability: A PET Study

¹ Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University Medical Center, Groningen, The Netherlands; ² Department of Cardiology, University Medical Center, Groningen, The Netherlands; and ³ Department of Cardiology, University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

Correspondence: For correspondence or reprints contact: Riemer H.J.A. Slart, MD, PhD, Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, P.O. Box 30001, 9700 RB, Groningen, The Netherlands. E-mail: r.h.j.a.slart{at}nucl.umcg.nl

SPECT with ^99mTc-labeled agents is better able to detect viability after nitrate administration. Nitrates induce vasodilation and may increase blood flow to severely hypoperfused but viable myocardium, thereby enhancing tracer delivery and improving the detection of viability. Quantitative data on the changes in blood flow are lacking in SPECT but can be provided by PET. The aim of the present study was to use PET to evaluate whether nitrate administration increases blood flow to chronically dysfunctional but viable myocardium. Methods: ¹³N-Ammonia PET was used to quantitatively assess blood flow, and ¹⁸F-FDG PET was used as the gold standard to detect viable myocardium. Twenty-five patients with chronic ischemic left ventricular dysfunction underwent ¹³N-ammonia PET at rest and after nitrate administration. Results: A significant increase in nitrate-enhanced blood flow was observed in viable segments (from 0.55 ± 0.15 to 0.68 ± 0.24 mL/min/g, P < 0.05). No statistically significant change in blood flow was observed in nonviable segments (0.60 ± 0.20 vs. 0.55 ± 0.18 mL/min/g). A ratio of at least 1.1 for nitrate-enhanced flow to resting flow allowed optimal detection of viable myocardium, yielding a sensitivity of 82% with a specificity of 100%. Conclusion: ¹³N-Ammonia PET showed a significant increase in nitrate-enhanced blood flow in viable myocardium, whereas blood flow remained unchanged after nitrate administration in nonviable myocardium. Nitrate use during myocardial perfusion imaging will lead to improved assessment of myocardial viability.

Key Words: left ventricular dysfunction • positron emission tomography • nitroglycerin • viability

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