Does 99mTc-MIBI SPECT/18F-FDG PET imaging agree with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in assessing cardiac function and myocardial tissue characteristics in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy?
Gated PET and cMRI show excellent agreement for cardiac function assessment in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, with cMRI being more sensitive for moderate fibrosis and PET better at detecting impaired but viable myocardium.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the agreement between myocardial F-FDG PET imaging and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (cMRI) in assessing cardiac function and relationship of cMRI late gadolinium enhancement (cMRI-LGE) and myocardial perfusion/metabolism pattern in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDCM). METHODS: Forty-two consecutive patients diagnosed with IDCM were enrolled. All patients underwent Tc-MIBI SPECT, gated F-FDG PET imaging, and cMRI within 3-7 days. Cardiac function parameters were calculated using PET and cMRI. The segments analysis was performed using a 17-segment model. Patterns of perfusion/metabolism were classified as normal, mismatch, mild-to-moderate match, and severe match, and cMRI-LGE was classified into 3 categories (non-LGE, mid-wall LGE, and transmural LGE). RESULTS: The correlation between gated PET and cMRI was excellent for end-diastolic volume (EDV; r = 0.948, P < 0.001), end-systolic volume (ESV; r = 0.939, P < 0.001), and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF; r = 0.685, P < 0.001). EDV and ESV were underestimated, whereas LVEF was slightly overestimated by gated PET in comparison to cMRI. Perfusion/metabolism patterns varied in 3 different categories of non-LGE, mid-wall LGE, and transmural LGE (χ = 14.276, P < 0.001). Also, 71.0% (44/62) segments with mid-wall LGE had normal perfusion/metabolism patterns, and 75.9% (63/83) perfusion/metabolism mismatch segments were shown as non-LGE. The incidence of LGE was significantly higher in segments with severe match than the other 3 segment groups (χ = 112.53, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: There is an excellent agreement between gated PET and cMRI in assessment of cardiac function. LGE-cMRI is much more sensitive in detecting moderate fibrosis, while PET could detect more impaired but viable myocardium. Combining the 2 imaging modalities is useful for providing more comprehensive evaluations of myocardial injury in patients with IDCM.
Wang et al. (Thu,) studied this question.