Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 19, 2026

High-Resolution Cardiac Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography for Small Animals
Published on: December 16, 2022
Hypodense regions in unenhanced CT identify nonviable myocardium: validation versus 18F-FDG PET
Tobias A Fuchs1, Jelena R Ghadri, Julia Stehli
1Department of Radiology, Cardiac Imaging, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland.
Purpose:
The aim of the present study was to evaluate the accuracy of hypodense regions in non-contrast-enhanced cardiac computed tomography (unenhanced CT) to identify nonviable myocardial scar tissue.
Methods:
Hypodense areas were visually identified in unenhanced CT of 80 patients in the left ventricular anterior, apical, septal, lateral and inferior myocardium and CT density was measured in Hounsfield units (HU). Findings were compared to (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose uptake by positron emission tomography (FDG PET), which served as the standard of reference to distinguish scar (<50 % FDG uptake) from viable tissue (≥50 % uptake).
Results:
Visually detected hypodense regions demonstrated a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of 74, 97, 84 and 94 %, respectively. A receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis revealed a cutoff value of mean HU at <28.8 for predicting scar tissue with an area under the curve of 0.93 yielding a sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of 94, 90, 67 and 99 %, respectively.
Conclusion:
Hypodense regions in unenhanced cardiac CT scans allow accurate identification of nonviable myocardial scar tissue.
More Related Videos
08:13In Vivo Quantitative Assessment of Myocardial Structure, Function, Perfusion and Viability Using Cardiac Micro-computed Tomography
Published on: February 16, 2016
10:02Quantification of Atherosclerotic Plaque Activity and Vascular Inflammation using [18-F] Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography (FDG-PET/CT)
Published on: May 2, 2012
Related Concept Videos
Positron Emission Tomography
One of the main requirements of a PET scan is a positron-emitting radioisotope, which is produced in a cyclotron and then attached to a substance used by the part of the body being...
Imaging Studies for Cardiovascular System V: CT