TY - JOUR T1 - Reduced rate of diagnostic coronary imaging following Rubidium PET vs Thallium SPECT, as alternatives to Technetium SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging JF - Journal of Nuclear Medicine JO - J Nucl Med SP - 1735 LP - 1735 VL - 54 IS - supplement 2 AU - Jonathan Blankenstein AU - Brian McArdle AU - Gary Small AU - Ann Guo AU - Linda Garrard AU - Benjamin Chow AU - Terrence Ruddy AU - George Wells AU - Rob Beanlands AU - Robert deKemp Y1 - 2013/05/01 UR - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/54/supplement_2/1735.abstract N2 - 1735 Objectives Rubidium-82 (RB) cardiac PET imaging is believed to have greater accuracy compared to Thallium-201 (TL) SPECT. This study was performed to evaluate downstream diagnostic and revascularization procedure utilization, following Rb-82 PET compared to TL-SPECT as alternative to Tc-99m SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) during a period of short supply. Methods Matched cohorts consisting of 902 pairs of patients receiving either RB-PET or TL-SPECT scans during the Tc-99m isotope crisis (July 2009 to August 2010) were individually matched by Morise Risk Score. These patients were cross-referenced with Institute databases of CCTA, CABG, CATH (diagnostic catheterization) and PCI (therapeutic catheterization) patients to assess the rates of downstream procedures following nuclear imaging. Downstream diagnostic testing was defined as any CCTA or CATH occurring within 180 days following the PET or SPECT scan. Downstream revascularization was defined as any CABG or PCI occurring within the same interval. Proportions of patients undergoing diagnostic and revascularization events were compared between RB-PET and TL-SPECT using the z-statistic. Results A significantly smaller proportion of RB-PET patients underwent downstream diagnostic testing (5.1% PET vs 7.1% SPECT, p = 0.04). Revascularization rates did not differ significantly between the two scan groups (9.8% PET vs 8.4% SPECT, p = 0.16). Conclusions Rubidium PET MPI may reduce downstream diagnostic testing compared to Thallium SPECT without significantly altering subsequent revascularization rates, suggesting that RB-PET may be a preferred alternative to Thallium-201 SPECT when Tc-99m isotope supply is not available. ER -