Abstract
Routine quantification of myocardial blood flow (MBF) requires robust and reproducible processing of dynamic image series. The goal of this study was to evaluate the reproducibility of 3 highly automated software programs commonly used for absolute MBF and flow reserve (stress/rest MBF) assessment with 82Rb PET imaging. Methods: Dynamic rest and stress 82Rb PET scans were selected in 30 sequential patient studies performed at 3 separate institutions using 3 different 3-dimensional PET/CT scanners. All 90 scans were processed with 3 different MBF quantification programs, using the same 1-tissue-compartment model. Global (left ventricle) and regional (left anterior descending, left circumflex, and right coronary arteries) MBF and flow reserve were compared among programs using correlation and Bland–Altman analyses. Results: All scans were processed successfully by the 3 programs, with minimal operator interactions. Global and regional correlations of MBF and flow reserve all had an R2 of at least 0.92. There was no significant difference in flow values at rest (P = 0.68), stress (P = 0.14), or reserve (P = 0.35) among the 3 programs. Bland–Altman coefficients of reproducibility (1.96 × SD) averaged 0.26 for MBF and 0.29 for flow reserve differences among programs. Average pairwise differences were all less than 10%, indicating good reproducibility for MBF quantification. Global and regional SD from the line of perfect agreement averaged 0.15 and 0.17 mL/min/g, respectively, for MBF, compared with 0.22 and 0.26, respectively, for flow reserve. Conclusion: The 1-tissue-compartment model of 82Rb tracer kinetics is a reproducible method for quantification of MBF and flow reserve with 3-dimensional PET/CT imaging.
- myocardial blood flow quantification
- myocardial perfusion imaging
- rubidium positron emission tomography
- coronary flow reserve
- myocardial perfusion reserve
Footnotes
Published online Feb. 27, 2013.
- © 2013 by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Inc.