Technical aspects of acquiring and measuring myocardial blood flow: Method, technique, and QA

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: John R Votaw, Emory University; Rene R. Sevag Packard, University of California Los Angeles
• Language: English
• Date: 2018-04-01
• Publisher: Springer Verlag (Germany)
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2017, American Society of Nuclear Cardiology.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12350-017-1049-y
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Journal of Nuclear Cardiology
• ISSN: 1071-3581
• Volume: 25
• Issue: 2
• Start Page: 665
• End Page: 670
• Keywords: PET; Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging; Science & Technology; Cardiovascular System & Cardiology; Coronary blood flow; HEALTH; Image quality; Coronary flow reserve; Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems; Life Sciences & Biomedicine
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Radiology; Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery

Abstract

Measuring absolute myocardial blood flow (MBF) is becoming a common aid for diagnosing patients suspected to have coronary artery disease. An MBF study, however, requires a scanner with high count rate capability, is more susceptible to artifacts, and is much more technically involved than static imaging, which leads to a greater risk of artifactual results contaminating the final result. This technical note gives the reader an introductory understanding of the method for calculating MBF. It then describes the scanning protocol, potential pitfalls and how to recognize them, and quality control steps that should be taken to avoid basing a clinical decision on possibly inaccurate flow information.