RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Usefulness of Fasting 18F-FDG PET in Identification of Cardiac Sarcoidosis JF Journal of Nuclear Medicine JO J Nucl Med FD Society of Nuclear Medicine SP 1989 OP 1998 VO 45 IS 12 A1 Wataru Okumura A1 Tsutomu Iwasaki A1 Takuji Toyama A1 Tatsuya Iso A1 Masashi Arai A1 Noboru Oriuchi A1 Keigo Endo A1 Tomoyuki Yokoyama A1 Tadashi Suzuki A1 Masahiko Kurabayashi YR 2004 UL http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/45/12/1989.abstract AB Cardiac PET using 18F-FDG under fasting conditions (fasting 18F-FDG PET) is a promising technique for identification of cardiac sarcoidosis and assessment of disease activity. The aim of this study was to investigate the usefulness of fasting 18F-FDG PET in detecting inflammatory lesions of cardiac sarcoidosis from a pathophysiologic standpoint. Methods: Twenty-two patients with systemic sarcoidosis were classified into 2 groups of 11 each according to the presence or absence of sarcoid heart disease. Cardiac sarcoidosis was diagnosed according to the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare guidelines for diagnosing cardiac sarcoidosis with the exception of scintigraphic criteria. Nuclear cardiac imaging with fasting 18F-FDG PET, 99mTc-methoxyisobutylisonitrile (99mTc-MIBI) SPECT, and 67Ga scintigraphy were performed in all patients. PET and SPECT images were divided into 13 myocardial segments and the standardized uptake value (SUV) of 18F-FDG was calculated and defect scores (DS) for 99mTc-MIBI uptake were assessed for each segment. The total SUV (T-SUV) and total DS (TDS) were calculated as the sum of measurements for all 13 segments, and the diagnostic accuracy of fasting 18F-FDG PET was compared with that of the other nuclear imaging modalities. In addition, pathophysiologic relationships between inflammatory activity and myocardial damage were examined by segmental comparative study using the SUV and DS. Results: In patients with cardiac sarcoidosis, fasting 18F-FDG PET revealed a higher frequency of abnormal myocardial segments than 99mTc-MIBI SPECT (mean number of abnormal segments per patient: 6.6 ± 3.0 vs. 3.0 ± 3.2 [mean ± SD], P < 0.05). The sensitivity of fasting 18F-FDG PET in detecting cardiac sarcoidosis was 100%, significantly higher than that of 99mTc-MIBI SPECT (63.6%) or 67Ga scintigraphy (36.3%). The accuracy of fasting 18F-FDG PET was significantly higher than 67Ga scintigraphy. The T-SUV demonstrated a good linear correlation with serum angiotensin-converting enzyme levels (r = 0.83, P < 0.01), and the TDS showed a significant negative correlation with the left ventricular ejection fraction (r = −0.82, P < 0.01). In abnormal myocardial segments on the nuclear scan, the SUV showed a significant negative correlation with the DS (r = −0.63, P < 0.0001). Conclusion: This study suggests that fasting 18F-FDG PET can detect the early stage of cardiac sarcoidosis, in which fewer perfusion abnormalities and high inflammatory activity are noted, before advanced myocardial impairment.