The Effect of Monitored Walking on Extracardiac Intestinal Activity in Myocardial Perfusion Imaging

Various techniques have been used in attempts to reduce interfering gastrointestinal activity in myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI); however, these approaches have yielded inconsistent results. The goal of this study was to investigate the efficacy of monitored walking, a previously unexplored technique, in reducing subdiaphragmatic activity-related artifacts during pharmacologic stress ^99mTc-tetrofosmin MPI with SPECT to improve the overall image quality. Methods: The study included patients who underwent MPI with pharmacologic stress. They were given a step counter immediately after the radiotracer injection and were randomized into a group A, with a request to walk at least 1,000 steps before imaging, and a group B, with no specific instructions about walking. The reconstructed SPECT images were assessed visually. Moderate and severe levels of subdiaphragmatic tracer activity were considered relevant for the interpretation of the scans. Additionally, myocardial and abdominal activity was semiquantitatively assessed on raw planar images, and the mean myocardium-to-abdomen count ratios were calculated. Results: We enrolled 199 patients (95 patients in group A and 104 patients in group B). Clinical characteristics did not differ significantly between the 2 groups. Patients in group A walked more steps than patients in group B (P < 0.001), but there were no differences in the proportion of accepted scans between the 2 groups (P = 0.41). Additionally, there were no differences in the proportion of relevant subdiaphragmatic activity between the groups (P = 0.91). The number of steps did not impact the acceptance rate (P = 0.29). Conclusion: A higher number of steps walked during the waiting period between pharmacologic stress and acquisition does not affect subdiaphragmatic activity-related artifacts or the proportion of accepted scans after pharmacologic stress. However, pedometer use and clear instructions motivate patients to walk while awaiting imaging. Larger studies are required to compare a higher-step-count group with a sedentary control group to assess the influence of walking on gastrointestinal artifacts in MPI.