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Updated: May 24, 2026

In Vivo Quantitative Assessment of Myocardial Structure, Function, Perfusion and Viability Using Cardiac Micro-computed Tomography
Published on: February 16, 2016
[Cost-effectiveness of stress-only myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging]
Enrique Vallejo1, César Acevedo, Samuel Varela
1Servicio de Cardiología Nuclear, Instituto Nacional de Cardiología Ignacio Chávez, México. vallejo.enrique@gmail.com
Unlabelled:
Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) myocardial perfusion imaging is widely used for diagnosing coronary artery disease (CAD). However, SPECT costs, imaging time, and radiation exposure, limit SPECT indications.
Objective:
Determine whether a stress-only SPECT imaging would be enough to obtain a diagnosis of CAD improving nuclear laboratory efficiency.
Methods:
122 patients with unknown CAD were evaluated with stress-only SPECT imaging. In order to evaluate diagnostic accuracy and the prognostic value of the stress-only protocol, patients with abnormal SPECT underwent invasive angiography and patients with normal SPECT were followed-up during 3 years.
Results:
Diagnosis time, SPECT cost, and radiopharmaceutical dosage were significantly lower as compared with the conventional SPECT imaging protocol (30, 40 and 55%, respectively). Diagnostic accuracy and cardiac prognosis information were comparable to those obtained with the conventional imaging protocol (positive predictive value for CAD of 85% and negative predictive value for cardiac events of 97%).
Conclusions:
In patients with intermediate risk for CAD, stress-only SPECT imaging will significantly improve nuclear laboratory efficiency, and with similar accuracy than that the one obtained with the conventional protocol.
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