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Updated: May 15, 2026
High-Resolution Cardiac Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography for Small Animals
Published on: December 16, 2022
Positron emission tomography in the assessment of left ventricular function in healthy rats: a comparison of four
Andrei Todica1, Guido Böning, Sebastian Lehner
1Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Munich, Marchioninistr. 15, 81377, Munich, Germany.
Objective:
To measure left ventricular (LV) function parameters in heart of healthy rats by three different positron emission tomography (PET) imaging techniques and by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Methods:
ECG-gated microPET examinations were obtained in seven healthy rats with 2-deoxy-2-[(18)F]fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) for calculation of LV-function from the blood-pool phase of the dynamic recording (FDGBP), and also from the later myocardial uptake (FDGMyo). On subsequent days, we re-measured LV-function using the novel blood-pool tracer (68)Ga-albumin (AlbBP) and again by FDG (FDGMyo2) in one setting. Cine-MRI examination provided the reference standard measurement.
Results:
The mean LV ejection fractions (LVEF) were 56 ± 3 (FDGBP), 55 ± 3 (FDGMyo), 56 ± 3 (FDGMyo2), 57 ± 3 (AlbBP), and 57 ± 2 (MRI). There were good to excellent correlations found between the LVEF-values as compared to MRI reference standard for FDGBP (r = 0.71), FDGMyo (r = 0.86) and AlbBP (r = 0.88). Both of the blood-pool methods significantly overestimated the magnitudes of end-diastolic-volume and end-systolic-volume, whereas FDGMyo matched closely to the MRI reference standard. There was no significant bias for both blood-pool methods and a minor negative bias for FDGMyo regarding the LV ejection fraction (LVEF) when compared to cine-MRI results. There was no significant difference between the means of FDGMyo and FDGMyo2 (P = .50).
Conclusions:
Relative to reference standard MRI measurements of LVEF, there was excellent agreement between PET-based measurements, notably for the novel blood-pool tracer (68)Ga-albumin.
Insights
Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging accurately measures left ventricular (LV) function in rats. Novel blood-pool tracers show excellent agreement with MRI, offering a reliable alternative for cardiac assessment.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Imaging
- Nuclear Medicine
- Radiochemistry
Background:
- Accurate assessment of left ventricular (LV) function is crucial in preclinical cardiovascular research.
- Positron Emission Tomography (PET) offers functional and metabolic imaging capabilities.
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) serves as a reference standard for cardiac function assessment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate and compare three distinct PET imaging techniques for measuring LV function in healthy rats.
- To validate PET-derived LV function parameters against reference standard cine-MRI measurements.
- To assess the performance of novel blood-pool tracers in cardiac imaging.
Main Methods:
- ECG-gated microPET scans were performed on rats using 2-deoxy-2-[(18)F]fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) for blood-pool (FDGBP) and myocardial uptake (FDGMyo) analysis.
- LV function was re-assessed using a novel (68)Ga-albumin blood-pool tracer (AlbBP) and FDG (FDGMyo2).
- Cine-MRI was utilized as the reference standard for LV function parameter quantification.
Main Results:
- PET-derived LV ejection fractions (LVEF) showed good to excellent correlation with MRI (r=0.71-0.88).
- The FDGMyo method closely matched MRI reference values for LV volumes, unlike blood-pool methods which overestimated them.
- No significant bias was observed for blood-pool methods regarding LVEF, with only a minor negative bias for FDGMyo compared to MRI.
Conclusions:
- PET-based LV function measurements demonstrate excellent agreement with reference MRI standards.
- The novel (68)Ga-albumin blood-pool tracer shows particular promise for accurate cardiac assessment.
- FDG-based myocardial uptake analysis provides reliable LV functional data comparable to MRI.
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