Extent of Myocardial Ischemia on Positron Emission Tomography and Survival Benefit With Early Revascularization

Prior studies with single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) have shown a survival benefit with early revascularization in patients with >10% to 12.5% ischemic myocardium. The relationship among positron emission tomography (PET)-derived extent of ischemia, early revascularization, and survival is unknown.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association among percent ischemia on PET MPI, revascularization, and survival.

A total of 16,029 unique consecutive patients who were undergoing Rubidium-82 rest-stress PET MPI from 2010 to 2016 were included. Patients with known cardiomyopathy and nondiagnostic perfusion results were excluded. Percent ischemic myocardium was estimated from a 17-segment model. Propensity scoring was used to account for nonrandomized referral to early revascularization (90 days of PET). A Cox model was developed, adjusting for propensity scores for early revascularization and percent ischemia, and an interaction between ischemia and early revascularization was tested.

Median follow-up was 3.7 years. Overall, 1,277 (8%) patients underwent early revascularization and 2,493 (15.6%) died (738 cardiac). Nearly 37% of patients (n = 5,902) had ischemia, with 13.5% (n = 2,160) having ≥10%. In propensity-adjusted analyses, there was a significant interaction between ischemia and early revascularization (p < 0.001 for all-cause and cardiac death), such that patients with greater ischemia had improved survival with early revascularization, with a potential ischemia threshold at 5% (upper limit 95% confidence interval at 10%). There was no differential association between ischemia and early revascularization on death based on history of known coronary artery disease (interaction p = 0.72).

In a contemporary cohort of patients undergoing PET MPI, patients with greater ischemia had a survival benefit from early revascularization. On exploratory analyses, this threshold was lower than that previously reported for SPECT. These findings require future validation in prospective cohorts or trials.