Soft Tissue Attenuation Patterns Associated with Supine Acquisition SPECT Myocardial Perfusion Imaging: A Descriptive...

Area of Science:

• Nuclear Cardiology
• Medical Imaging Physics
• Cardiovascular Diagnostics

Background:

• Soft-tissue attenuation is a known artifact in SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI).
• Understanding the prevalence and influencing factors of these artifacts is crucial for accurate diagnosis.
• Previous studies have not fully defined the interaction between attenuation patterns, body habitus, and gender in supine acquisition systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the prevalence of soft-tissue attenuation patterns in normal SPECT-MPI studies.
• To investigate the association of these patterns with body habitus and gender in patients undergoing supine acquisition SPECT-MPI.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study was conducted.
• Analysis of 263 normal, clinically-indicated, supine-acquisition SPECT-MPI studies.
• Evaluation of soft-tissue attenuation patterns (anterior, inferior, lateral) and their correlation with patient demographics and body measurements.

Main Results:

• Anterior attenuation was observed in 35.4% of studies, more prevalent in women (50.7% vs. 15.7%) and associated with chest circumference in men.
• Inferior attenuation (41.8%) was more prevalent in men (78.3% vs. 13.5%) and unaffected by body habitus.
• Lateral attenuation (13.3%) was more common in women (19.6% vs. 5.2%) and associated with obesity (p=0.015).

Conclusions:

• Soft-tissue attenuation artifacts are frequent in supine SPECT-MPI.
• Gender and body habitus significantly influence the prevalence and type of attenuation patterns.
• Awareness of these associations is critical for precise SPECT-MPI interpretation.