Quantitative myocardial blood flow with Rubidium-82 PET: a clinical perspective

Positron emission tomography (PET) allows assessment of myocardial blood flow in absolute terms (ml/min/g). Quantification of myocardial blood flow (MBF) and myocardial flow reserve (MFR) extend the scope of conventional semi-quantitative myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI): e.g. in 1) identification of the extent of a multivessel coronary artery disease (CAD) burden, 2) patients with balanced 3-vessel CAD, 3) patients with subclinical CAD, and 4) patients with regional flow variance, despite of a high global MFR. A more accurate assessment of the ischemic burden in patients with intermediate pretest probability of CAD can support the clinical decision-making in treatment of CAD patients as a complementary tool to the invasive coronary angiography (CAG). Recently, several studies have proven Rubidium-82 ((82)Rb) PET's long-term prognostic value by a significant association between compromised global MFR and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), and together with new diagnostic possibilities from measuring the longitudinal myocardial perfusion gradient, cardiac (82)Rb PET faces a promising clinical future. This article reviews current evidence on quantitative (82)Rb PET's ability to diagnose and risk stratify CAD patients, while assessing the potential of the modality in clinical practice.