Effects of cardiac allograft vasculopathy on myocardial blood flow, vasodilatory capacity, and coronary vasomotion

BACKGROUND

Coronary vasculopathy is the third leading cause of death 1 year after cardiac allograft transplantation. This study was designed to assess the hemodynamic effects of transplant vasculopathy on myocardial blood flow and vasomotion.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Thirty-two patients were studied 1 to 2 years after cardiac transplantation by use of positron emission tomography (n = 32), intravascular ultrasound (n = 26), coronary angiography (n = 32), and endomyocardial biopsy (n = 32). Twenty healthy individuals served as control subjects. Quantitative intravascular ultrasound was used to compute coronary lumen area, intimal thickness, and intimal index [Intima Area/(Intima + Lumen Area)]. Myocardial blood flow was quantified with the use of 13N-ammonia/positron emission tomography. Mean myocardial blood flow was higher in the transplant patients than in control subjects (0.94 +/- 0.26 versus 0.68 +/- 0.16 mL.min-1.g-1 P < .0005). Cold increased myocardial blood flow to 0.79 +/- 0.18 mL.min-1.g-1 in control subjects but not in patients (0.98 +/- 0.36 mL.g-1.min-1). Hyperemic myocardial blood flow was lower in patients than in control subjects (1.69 +/- 0.78 versus 2.30 +/- 0.32 mL.min-1.g-1; P < .05) and was inversely related to maximal intimal thickness and intimal index (all P < .05). The myocardial flow reserve was reduced in patients (1.82 +/- 0.55 versus 3.45 +/- 1.03; P < .0001).

CONCLUSIONS

The degree of intimal thickening is correlated with abnormalities in coronary function in patients with diffuse cardiac allograft vasculopathy. The reduction in vasodilatory capacity and the abnormal blood flow response to cold suggest abnormalities in endothelium-dependent and -independent coronary vasodilation in transplant recipients.

Effects of dobutamine stimulation on myocardial blood flow, glucose metabolism, and wall motion in normal and dysfunctional myocardium

BACKGROUND

This investigation examines the effects of inotropic stimulation on myocardial blood flow (MBF) and glucose metabolism (MRGlc) in dysfunctional myocardium through the use of positron emission tomography (PET).

METHODS AND RESULTS

Nineteen patients with chronic coronary artery disease and 12 normal volunteers were studied with 13N-ammonia, 18F-deoxyglucose, and PET and with two-dimensional echocardiography at baseline and during intravenous dobutamine (5 to 10 micrograms/kg per minute). At rest, MBF in mismatch regions (n = 10) averaged 0.53 +/- 0.19 mL/g per minute and increased by 41.4 +/- 46.6% (P = .01) during dobutamine, whereas in match regions (n = 16) MBF was 0.28 +/- 0.09 mL/g per minute at rest without an increase during dobutamine (26.4 +/- 47.3%; NS). Myocardium with normal rest MBF was classified as normal remote (normal wall motion, n = 8) or abnormal remote (abnormal wall motion, n = 11). Dobutamine raised MBF similarly in normal subjects and in normal remote regions (by 82 +/- 85% and 84 +/- 42%, P < .01) but by only 33 +/- 34% in abnormal remote regions. MRGlc declined by 49 +/- 28% (P < .005) with dobutamine in the normal subjects, remained unchanged in normal and abnormal remote regions of the patients, but increased in mismatch and match regions (by 49 +/- 74% and 46 +/- 77%; P < .05). Wall motion improved with dobutamine only in mismatch and abnormal remote regions but not in match regions.

CONCLUSIONS

Blood flow-metabolism mismatch patterns are not consistently associated with a fixed downregulation of MBF; the increased contractile work in response to dobutamine stimulation is associated with an increase in MBF and a greater reliance on glucose utilization, possibly reflecting acute ischemia or alterations in substrate selection by chronically dysfunctional myocardium. Importantly, functionally impaired though normally perfused myocardium frequently exists in chronic coronary artery disease patients and may represent repetitively stunned or, more likely, remodeled left ventricular myocardium.

Myocardial viability: methods of assessment and clinical relevance

Myocardial hibernation is hypoperfused dysfunctional myocardium that has the potential to recover function after coronary revascularization. Although recovery of regional function after revascularization is the gold standard for assessing the diagnostic accuracy of various techniques, improvements of EF, symptoms, and survival are fundamental end points. Despite important differences in the markers of viability by positron-emission tomography, single-photon emission tomography, two-dimensional echocardiography, and magnetic resonance imaging, their positive and negative predictive values in nonrandomized studies are fairly comparable. Assessment of myocardial viability may be clinically important in many patients but especially in those with EF < 30% and congestive heart failure. The degree of improvement in EF after coronary revascularization depends on the extent of hibernation, the suitability of coronary structure for revascularization, the lack of perioperative infarction, the completeness of revascularization, and the long-term patency of grafts.

Inhibition of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase in post-ischaemic myocardium

OBJECTIVE

Myocardial reperfusion following brief period of ischaemic is associated with prolonged, reversible periods of metabolic dysfunction. As the glycolytic enzyme glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) is inhibited in vitro by reactive oxygen species, we hypothesized that production of reactive oxygen species during reperfusion would lead to inhibition of GAPDH in post-ischaemic myocardium.

METHODS

Anaesthetized closed-chest-dogs were subjected to 20 min balloon occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Biopsy samples were taken after 3 and 24 h of reperfusion, to determine the activity of GAPDH and the concentrations of glycolytic intermediates in post-ischaemic and remote, non-ischaemic territories.

RESULTS

A significant reduction in GAPDH activity was observed in post-ischaemic relative to remote tissue after 3 h reperfusion (4.8 +/- 0.5 vs. 2.9 +/- 0.2 mumol/min/mg protein; P < 0.01). Western blotting revealed no reduction in the levels of GAPDH protein. Analysis of enzyme kinetics showed the loss of activity to be associated with decreased Vmax (5.9 +/- 0.5 vs. 3.2 +/- 0.2 mumol/min/mg protein; P < 0.01) with no significant change in the Km for glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (GAP). Incubation of the inhibited enzyme under both mild and strong reducing conditions failed to reactivate the enzyme. The acute reduction in enzyme activity in post-ischaemic tissue was accompanied by regional differences in glycolytic intermediates, notably a twofold accumulation of GAP (P < 0.05), and a reduction in the glucose metabolic rate (GMR) determined by positron emission tomography and [18F]2-fluorodeoxyglucose. By 24 h reperfusion, no regional differences in GAPDH activity, reaction Vmax or Km, GAP concentrations or GMR were detectable.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that inhibition of GAPDH activity may represent an important point at which glycolysis is limited during reperfusion, and further, that the mechanisms of enzyme inhibition do not involve simple oxidation or S-thiolation of critical active site thiol groups.

Reproducibility of measurements of regional resting and hyperemic myocardial blood flow assessed with PET

PET with 13N-ammonia permits the noninvasive quantification of myocardial blood flow (MBF) in humans. The present study was done to assess the reproducibility of quantitative blood flow measurements at rest and during pharmacologically induced hyperemia in healthy individuals.

METHODS

Thirty healthy volunteers (26 men, 4 women) were studied. Paired measurements of MBF at rest (n = 21), during adenosine (n = 15) and during dipyridamole (n = 7) were performed using a two-compartment model for 13N-ammonia PET. The mean difference between baseline and follow-up blood flow (% difference) was calculated to assess reproducibility.

RESULTS

No significant difference was observed between resting blood flow at baseline or follow-up (15.8% +/- 15.8%; p = ns). Baseline and follow-up resting blood flow were linearly correlated (r = 0.63, p < 0.005). Normalization of resting blood flow to the rate pressure product improved the reproducibility significantly (15.8% +/- 15.8% versus 10.1% +/- 10.5%, p < 0.05). Baseline and follow-up hyperemic myocardial blood flow did not differ (11.8% +/- 9.4%; p = ns) and were linearly correlated (r = 0.69, p < 0.0005).

CONCLUSION

MBF at rest can be measured reproducibly with 13N-ammonia PET. The individual response to pharmacologic stress appears to be relatively consistent. Thus, serial blood flow measurements with 13N-ammonia PET can be used to quantify the effect of various interventions on MBF and vasodilatory reserve.

Derivation of input function from FDG-PET studies in small hearts

The extraction of pure arterial time-activity curves (TACs) from dynamic PET images of a small animal heart using factor analysis of dynamic structures (FADS) was found to be unsuccessful due to the small size of the cardiac chamber that causes extensive mixture of TACs of different structures.

METHODS

In this study, we used digital phantoms of the left ventricle (LV cavity size: 1-2 cm) and small monkey (LV cavity size: approximately 2 cm) dynamic FDG PET studies to evaluate FADS for extracting the pure blood-pool TACs by adding a single blood sample (taken at a late scan time) constraint.

RESULTS

In the digital phantom studies, spillover fractions in the extracted blood-pool TACs using FADS without a blood sample constraint (FADS(-)) and with a blood sample constraint (FADS(+)) were 3%-91% and < 3%, respectively. In the monkey studies (n = 4), FADS(+) extracted blood-pool TACs matched well with the arterialized well counter measurements (% differences of curve integration; FADS(-) < 82%; FADS(+) < 9%). The microparameters (K1*, k2*, k3*, k4*) and macroparameters (Knlr), obtained from the FADS(+) blood-pool TACs, were similar to those obtained from plasma samples in a three-compartment model fitting (% differences of Knlr:phantom studies < 5%; monkey studies < 9%).

CONCLUSION

The FADS technique with a single-blood sample has the potential to extract the pure blood-pool TACs directly from dynamic PET images of a small animal without multiple blood sampling, region of interest definition or spillover correction.

Dobutamine positron emission tomography: absolute quantitation of rest and dobutamine myocardial blood flow and correlation with cardiac work and percent diameter stenosis in patients with and without coronary artery disease

OBJECTIVES

This study sought to measure myocardial blood flow at rest and during dobutamine infusion and to correlate flow with cardiac work and severity of coronary artery disease.

BACKGROUND

Dobutamine is used with cardiac imaging to induce possible ischemia in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease. Positron emission tomography permits noninvasive quantitation of myocardial blood flow.

METHODS

Fifteen patients with quantitative coronary arteriography were studied at rest and during dobutamine infusion using nitrogen-13 ammonia flow imaging with positron emission tomography. Myocardial blood flow was determined in regions corresponding to the three major coronary arteries for myocardium with and without dobutamine flow defects and with and without a > 50% diameter stenosis.

RESULTS

Eight patients had at least one dobutamine flow defect; four of whom had a previous myocardial infarction. One patient with > 50% diameter stenosis had no flow defects, and one with < 50% diameter stenosis (48%) had one defect. Dobutamine significantly increased myocardial blood flow in regions with and without a dobutamine flow defect or > 50% diameter stenosis, with a greater increase when a defect or > 50% diameter stenosis was not present. Rest and dobutamine flows in regions without > 50% diameter stenosis were 0.93 +/- 0.20 (mean +/- SD) and 2.16 +/- 0.52 ml/min per g (p < 0.01), respectively. The corresponding flows in regions without a defect were 0.94 +/- 0.21 and 2.17 +/- 0.53 ml/min per g (p < 0.01), respectively. This 2, 4-fold increase in flow was significantly correlated (p < 0.001) with a 2.2-fold increase in rate-pressure product induced by dobutamine. The rest and dobutamine flows for regions subtended by a vessel with > 50% diameter stenosis were 0.70 +/- 0.33 and 1.20 +/- 0.54 ml/min per g (p < 0.05), respectively, whereas the corresponding values for regions with a dobutamine flow defect were 0.69 +/- 0.33 ml/min per g at rest and 1.23 +/- 0.54 ml/min per g during dobutamine (p < 0.05). Dobutamine increased flow inversely proportional to percent diameter stenosis. The rest flow for regions with a dobutamine flow defect were not significantly different from that in regions without defects.

CONCLUSIONS

Dobutamine resulted in a significant increase in myocardial blood flow that correlated significantly with both increased cardiac work and degree of stenosis.

Coronary vasodilatory capacity is impaired in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy

Increases in wall stress because of left ventricular enlargement and/or alterations in coronary vasomotor tone might affect myocardial blood flow and vasodilatory capacity in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy. To test this hypothesis myocardial blood flow was measured at rest and during intravenous administration of dipyridamole (0.56 mg/kg) using dynamic nitrogen 13-ammonia positron emission tomography (two-compartment model) in 10 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (mean left ventricular ejection fraction 28 +/- 8% 1 woman, 9 men; 47 +/- 13 years of age). Ten age and gender matched healthy volunteers served as controls. Coronary artery disease was ruled out by coronary angiography and left ventricular hypertrophy by two dimensional-echocardiography. Baseline heart rate (70 +/- 13 v 64 +/- 12 bpm), systolic blood pressure (111 +/- 20 v 114 +/- 12 mm Hg) and rate pressure product (7,686 +/- 1264 v 7,306 +/- 1,645) were similar in patients and controls. During dipyridamole administration, the rate pressure product increased similarly in both groups. Myocardial blood flow at rest did not differ between groups of patients and volunteers (0.69 +/ -0.27 v 0.67 +/- 0.17 mL/g/min) but correlated with the rate pressure product only in controls (myocardial blood flow, 0.18 + 0.000068214; rate pressure product, .67; P < .05). Hyperemic myocardial blood flow was lower in patients (1.57 +/- 0.39 v 1.92 +/- 0.31 mL/g/min, p < .05, whereas myocardial flow reserve did not differ between groups of patients and controls (2.57 +/- 1.15 v 3.02 +/- 0.94). Coronary vasodilatory capacity is reduced in patients with severe nonischemic cardiomyopathy. Increases in extravascular compressive forces or increased serum catecholamine levels, which in turn induce coronary vasoconstriction, might account for this finding.

Noninvasive quantification of myocardial blood flow in humans. A direct comparison of the [13N]ammonia and the [15O]water techniques

BACKGROUND

[13N]Ammonia has been validated in dog studies as a myocardial blood flow tracer. Estimates of myocardial blood flow by [13N]ammonia were highly linearly correlated to those by the microsphere and blood sample techniques. However, estimates of myocardial blood flow with [13N]ammonia in humans have not yet been compared with those by an independent technique. This study therefore tested the hypothesis that the [13N]ammonia positron emission tomographic technique in humans gives estimates of myocardial blood flow comparable to those obtained with the [15O]water technique.

METHODS AND RESULTS

A total of 30 pairs of positron emission tomographic flow measurements were performed in 30 healthy volunteers; 15 volunteers were studied at rest and 15 during adenosine-induced hypermia. Estimates of average and of regional myocardial blood flow by the [13N]ammonia and the [15O]water approaches correlated well (y = 0.02 + 1.02x, r = .99, P < .001 SEE = 0.023 for average and y = 0.06 + 1.00x, r = .97, P < .001, SEE = 0.025 for regional values) over a flow range of 0.45 to 4.74 mL.min-1.g-1. At rest, mean myocardial blood flow was 0.64 +/- 0.09 mL.min-1.g-1 for [13N]ammonia and 0.66 +/- 0.12 mL.min-1.g-1 for [15O]water (P = NS). For adenosine-induced hyperemia, mean myocardial blood flow was 2.63 +/- 0.75 mL.min-1.g-1 for [13N]ammonia and 2.73 +/- 0.77 mL.min-1.g-1 for [15O]water (P = NS). The coefficient of variation as an index of the observed heterogeneity of myocardial blood flow averaged, for [13N]ammonia, 9 +/- 4% at rest and 12 +/- 7% during stress and, for [15O]water, 14 +/- 11% at rest and 16 +/- 9% during stress. The coefficients of variation for [15O]water were significantly higher than those for [13N]ammonia (P = .004 at rest and P = .03 during stress).

CONCLUSIONS

The two approaches yield comparable estimates of myocardial blood flow in humans, which supports the validity of the [13N]ammonia method in human myocardium previously shown only in animals. However, the [15O]water approach reveals a greater heterogeneity (presumably method-related), which might limit the accuracy of sectorial myocardial blood flow estimates in humans.

Quantitative relation between myocardial viability and improvement in heart failure symptoms after revascularization in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy

BACKGROUND

Studies of patients with coronary artery disease and left ventricular dysfunction have shown that preoperative quantification of myocardial viability may be clinically useful to identify those patients who will benefit most from revascularization both functionally and prognostically. However, the relation between preoperative extent of viability and change in heart failure symptoms has not been documented carefully. We assessed the relation between the magnitude of improvement in heart failure symptoms after coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) and the extent of myocardial viability as assessed by use of quantitative analysis of preoperative positron emission tomography (PET) images.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We studied 36 patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy (mean left ventricular ejection fraction, 28 +/- 6%) undergoing CABG. Preoperative extent and severity of perfusion abnormalities and myocardial viability (flow-metabolism mismatch) were assessed by use of quantitative analysis of PET images with 13N ammonia and fluorine-18-deoxyglucose. Each patient's functional status was determined before and after CABG by use of a Specific Activity Scale. Mean perfusion defect size and severity were 63 +/- 13% and 33 +/- 12%, respectively. Total extent of a PET mismatch correlated linearly and significantly with percent improvement in functional status after CABG (r = .87, P < .0001). A blood flow-metabolism mismatch > or = 18% was associated with a sensitivity of 76% and a specificity of 78% for predicting a change in functional status after revascularization. Patients with large mismatches (> or = 18%) achieved a significantly higher functional status compared with those with minimal or no PET mismatch (< 5%) (5.7 +/- 0.8 versus 4.9 +/- 0.7 metabolic equivalents, P = .009). This resulted in an improvement of 107% in patients with large mismatches compared with only 34% in patients with minimal or no PET mismatch.

CONCLUSIONS

In patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy, the magnitude of improvement in heart failure symptoms after CABG is related to the preoperative extent and magnitude of myocardial viability as assessed by use of PET imaging. Patients with large perfusion-metabolism mismatches exhibit the greatest clinical benefit after CABG.

Quantification of myocardial blood flow using dynamic nitrogen-13-ammonia PET studies and factor analysis of dynamic structures

In this study, factor analysis of dynamic structures (FADS) was used to extract the "pure" blood-pool time-activity curves (TACs) and to generate parametric myocardial blood flow (MBF) images (pixel unit: ml/min/g).

METHODS

Ten dynamic 13N-ammonia dog PET studies (three baseline, five hyperemia and two occlusion) were included. Three factors (TACs) and their corresponding factor images (the right ventricular and left ventricular blood pools and myocardial activities) were extracted from each study. The left ventricular factors matched well with the plasma TACs. The factor images of myocardium were then converted to a parametric images of MBF using a relationship derived from a two-compartment model.

RESULTS

MBF estimates obtained from FADS correlated well with MBF estimates obtained with the two-compartment model (r = 0.98, slope = 0.84) and microsphere techniques (r = 0.96, slope = 0.94). FADS-generated MBF parametric images have better image quality and lower noise levels compared to those generated with Patlak graphical analysis.

CONCLUSION

Regional MBF can be measured accurately and noninvasively with 13N-ammonia dynamic PET imaging and FADS. The method is simple, accurate and produces parametric images of MBF without requiring blood sampling and spillover correction.

Effect of caffeine on myocardial blood flow at rest and during pharmacological vasodilation

Stress testing with intravenous injection of dipyridamole is frequently used for noninvasive detection of coronary artery disease (CAD) with PET or SPECT. Dietary intake of caffeinated food, beverages or medication might alter both resting and dipyridamole-induced hyperemic blood flow, thereby compromising the diagnostic sensitivity of dipyridamole stress testing.

METHODS

To quantify the effect on myocardial blood flow at rest and during intravenous injection of dipyridamole, 12 healthy volunteers (mean age 27 +/- 6 yr) with low risk for CAD were studied with dynamic PET and a tracer kinetic model for 13N-ammonia after 24 hr of caffeine abstinence and after caffeine intake.

RESULTS

Caffeine tended to increase the rate pressure product from 6873 +/- 1494 to 7566 +/- 1102 (p = 0.051), whereas resting myocardial blood flow remained unchanged (0.61 +/- 0.13 versus 0.58 +/- 0.07 ml/g/min, p = ns). The heart rate response to dipyridamole was inversely related to serum caffeine levels. Hyperemic blood flow (2.01 +/- 0.46 versus 1.31 +/- 0.0.38 ml/g/min; p < 0.001) and flow reserve (3.4 +/- 0.8 versus 2.3 +/- 0.7; p < 0.001) were inversely related to the caffeine dose. Coronary vascular resistance at rest tended to increase (132 +/- 32 versus 147 +/- 25 mmHg/ml/g/min; p = 0.06), whereas minimal coronary vascular resistance was significantly higher after caffeine (41 +/- 9 to 69 +/- 25 mmHg/ml/g/min; p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Caffeine intake alters the coronary vasomotor tone at rest, which might lower the threshold for ischemic events in patients with CAD. It reduces hyperemic blood flow and flow reserve and the dipyridamole-induced increase in heart rate in a dose-dependent fashion. These findings emphasize the importance of carefully screening patients for intake of caffeinated food, beverages or medication prior to dipyridamole stress testing.

Factor analysis for extraction of blood time-activity curves in dynamic FDG-PET studies

Arterial sampling in dynamic PET studies can be eliminated by using left ventricular or aortic time-activity curves (TAC) obtained from user drawn regions of interest (ROIs) after appropriate spillover correction. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility of extracting the "pure" arterial TAC from dynamic PET images using factor analysis of dynamic structures (FADS).

METHODS

Computer simulations were used to study the performance of the FADS algorithm with positivity constraints. Ten canine 13N-ammonia and two human FDG-PET dynamic studies were used to extract the blood TACs from FADS. Plasma samples and compartmental model fittings were used to validate the accuracy of the FADS-generated blood factors.

RESULTS

We found that FADS with positivity constraints was sufficient to extract the blood factor from the composite dynamic images. The "pure" blood-pool TACs that matched well with the arterialized well counter measurements were generated from FADS in the canine and human studies.

CONCLUSION

FADS has the potential to accurately extract "pure" blood TAC from dynamic PET images, allowing reliable quantitation of biological information from PET studies without blood sampling, ROI drawing or spillover correction.

Evidence for preserved cardiopulmonary baroreflex control of renal cortical blood flow in humans with advanced heart failure. A positron emission tomography study

BACKGROUND

The effect of cardiopulmonary baroreflexes on the renal circulation in healthy humans and patients with heart failure is unknown because of the technical limitations of studying the renal circulation. Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging is a new method to measure renal cortical blood flow in humans that is precise, rapid, reproducible, and noninvasive. The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of acute cardiopulmonary baroreceptor unloading by phlebotomy on regional blood flow in healthy humans and humans with advanced heart failure.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We compared renal cortical blood flow and forearm blood flow in 10 healthy volunteers and 8 patients with heart failure (left ventricular ejection fraction, 0.24 +/- 0.02) during cardiopulmonary baroreceptor unloading with phlebotomy (450 mL). The major findings of this study are: (1) At rest, renal cortical blood flow is markedly diminished in humans with heart failure compared with healthy humans (heart failure, 2.4 +/- 0.1 versus healthy, 4.3 +/- 0.2 mL.min-1.g-1, P < .001). (2) In healthy humans, during phlebotomy, forearm blood flow decreased substantially (basal, 3.3 +/- 0.4 versus phlebotomy, 2.6 +/- 0.3 mL.min-1.100 mL-1, P = .02) and renal cortical blood flow decreased slightly but significantly (basal, 4.3 +/- 0.2 versus phlebotomy, 4.0 +/- 0.3 mL.min-1.g-1, P = .01). (3) The small magnitude of reflex renal vasoconstriction is not explained by the inability of the renal circulation to vasoconstrict, since the cold pressor stimulus induced substantial decreases in renal cortical blood flow in healthy subjects (basal, 4.4 +/- 0.1 versus cold pressor, 3.7 +/- 0.1 mL.min-1.g-1, P = .003). (4) In humans with heart failure, during phlebotomy, forearm blood flow did not change (basal, 2.6 +/- 0.3 versus phlebotomy, 2.7 +/- 0.2 mL.min-1.100 mL-1, P = NS), but renal cortical blood flow decreased slightly but significantly (basal, 2.4 +/- 0.1 versus phlebotomy, 2.1 +/- 0.1 mL.min-1.g-1, P = .01). (5) The cold pressor stimulus induced substantial decreases in renal cortical blood flow in patients with heart failure (basal, 2.9 +/- 0.1 versus cold pressor, 2.3 +/- 0.1 mL.min-1.g-1, P = .008). Thus, in patients with heart failure, there is an abnormality in cardiopulmonary baroreflex control of the forearm circulation but not the renal circulation.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates the power of PET imaging to study normal physiological and pathophysiological reflex control of the renal circulation in humans and describes the novel finding of selective dysfunction of cardiopulmonary baroreflex control of one vascular region but its preservation in another in patients with heart failure.

Effect of short-term cardiovascular conditioning and low-fat diet on myocardial blood flow and flow reserve

BACKGROUND

Cardiovascular conditioning reduces resting myocardial oxygen demand by lowering systolic blood pressure and heart rate. Lower myocardial oxygen demand at rest would be expected to be associated with a decrease in resting myocardial blood flow and, consequently, an increase in myocardial flow reserve as the ratio of hyperemic to resting blood flow. However, the effect of controlled exercise together with a low-lipid diet on myocardial blood flow and flow reserve has not been examined in humans.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Myocardial blood flow at rest and after dipyridamole-induced hyperemia (0.56 mg/kg i.v.) was quantified with [13N]ammonia and positron emission tomography in 13 volunteers before and upon completion of a 6-week program of cardiovascular conditioning and a low-fat diet. Exercise capacity and serum lipid profiles were also assessed at the start and finish of the program. Eight normal volunteers of similar age not participating in the conditioning program served as a control group. Cardiovascular conditioning lowered the resting rate-pressure product (8859 +/- 2128 versus 7450 +/- 1496, P < .001), serum cholesterol (217 +/- 36 versus 181 +/- 26 mg/dL), LDL cholesterol (140 +/- 32 versus 114 +/- 24 mg/dL), and triglycerides (145 +/- 53 versus 116 +/- 33 mg/dL, all P < .05). Exercise tolerance (metabolic equivalent of the task, METs) improved significantly from 10.0 +/- 3.0 to 14.4 +/- 3.6 (P < .01). Resting blood flow decreased (0.78 +/- 0.18 versus 0.69 +/- 0.14 mL.g-1.min-1, P < .05), whereas hyperemic blood flow increased (2.06 +/- 0.35 versus 2.25 +/- 0.40 mL.g-1.min-1, P < .05), resulting in an improved myocardial flow reserve (2.82 +/- 1.07 versus 3.39 +/- 0.91, P < .05). Overall, the myocardial flow reserve was significantly related to exercise performance (METs). In the control group, no changes in resting rate-pressure product, serum cholesterol levels, exercise performance, resting or hyperemic myocardial blood flow, or flow reserve were observed.

CONCLUSIONS

Short-term cardiovascular conditioning together with a low-fat diet results in an improved myocardial flow reserve by lowering resting blood flow and increasing coronary vasodilatory capacity. These changes are associated with an improved exercise capacity and may offer a protective effect in patients with coronary artery disease.

Parameter estimation of cardiac geometry by ECG-gated PET imaging: validation using magnetic resonance imaging and echocardiography

The purpose of this study was to apply and validate a previously developed model-based image analysis technique which derives estimates of regional myocardial wall thickness and the left ventricular radius directly from gated cardiac PET images.

METHODS

In 11 normal volunteers, gated myocardial 18F-deoxyglucose (FDG) images with 16 equal gates spanning the entire cardiac cycle were acquired for 20 min. To improve count statistics and thus image quality, 3 and 5 of 16 gates were summed to obtain systolic and diastolic images. Based on a five-parameter model, radial profiles from systolic and diastolic PET images were fit by nonlinear regression for myocardial wall thickness, left ventricular radius and tracer activities in the blood pool, the myocardial tissue and the extracardiac background. Echocardiography and gated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were performed in 11 and 7 volunteers, respectively.

RESULTS

We observed a significant (p < 0.001) correlation between measurements obtained by gated PET imaging and the correlative imaging modalities for myocardial wall thickness and left ventricular radius. While good agreement was observed between measurements of average radial shortening, estimates of average wall thickening differed significantly.

CONCLUSION

This model-based analysis offers accurate estimates of regional recovery coefficients directly from gated cardiac PET images and may also prove useful for the assessment of myocardial contractile function. These recovery coefficients are essential for the correction of partial volume effects when quantitative PET studies are performed.

Relation among stenosis severity, myocardial blood flow, and flow reserve in patients with coronary artery disease

BACKGROUND

Coronary arteriography is considered the "gold standard" for evaluating the severity of a coronary stenosis. Because the resistance to blood flow through a stenotic lesion depends on a number of lesion characteristics, the physiological significance of coronary lesions of intermediate severity is often difficult to determine from angiography alone. This study of patients with coronary artery disease seeks to determine the relation between myocardial blood flow and flow reserve measured by positron emission tomography (PET) and the percent area stenosis on quantitative coronary arteriography.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We studied 28 subjects: 18 patients with coronary artery disease (66 +/- 8 years) and 10 age-matched healthy volunteers (64 +/- 13 years) with dynamic N-13 ammonia PET imaging at rest and after dipyridamole (0.56 mg/kg). The percent cross-sectional area stenosis was quantified on the coronary arteriograms as described by Brown et al. In the 18 patients, a total of 41 non-infarct-related coronary vessels were analyzed. Myocardial blood flows in normal regions of patients with coronary artery disease were not different than those in healthy volunteers, both at rest and after dipyridamole. As a result, the myocardial flow reserve was also similar in both groups (2.4 +/- 0.4 versus 2.6 +/- 0.7, respectively; P = NS). Quantitative PET estimates of hyperemic blood flow (r = .81, P < .00001), flow reserve (r = .78, P < .00001), and an index of the "minimal coronary resistance" (r = .78, P < .00001) were inversely and nonlinearly correlated with the percent area stenosis on angiography. Of note, PET estimates of myocardial flow reserve successfully differentiated coronary lesions of intermediate severity (50% to 70% and 70% to 90%; 2.4 +/- 0.4 versus 1.8 +/- 0.5, respectively; P = .04).

CONCLUSIONS

In patients with coronary artery disease, non-invasive measurements of myocardial blood flow and flow reserve by PET are inversely and nonlinearly related to stenosis severity as defined by quantitative angiography. Importantly, coronary lesions of intermediate severity have a differential flow reserve that decreases as stenosis increases that can be detected noninvasively by PET, thus allowing better definition of the functional importance of known coronary stenosis.

Correction of spillover radioactivities for estimation of the blood time-activity curve from the imaged LV chamber in cardiac dynamic FDG PET studies

In dynamic cardiac PET FDG studies for measurement of myocardial metabolic rate of glucose (MMRGlc), the plasma FDG time-activity curve (input function) is commonly obtained from the left ventricular (LV) region on the PET images. The input function is contaminated by spillover of radioactivity from the surrounding myocardium and this could cause significant error in the estimated MMRGlc. In this study, we determined the effect of myocardial to blood pool spillover on MMRGlc and developed a method to correct for this spillover of activity. The method is based on a reformulation of the FDG model equation in terms of the spillover contaminated input function that includes both the myocardium to blood pool and blood pool to myocardium spillover fractions as variable parameters (Fmb and Fbm). The reformulated model equation can be used to fit the global myocardial tissue activity curve to estimate Fmb and thus yields a spillover corrected input function. The MMRGlc estimate with the corrected input function was within 95% of the true value (compared to 85% using the uncorrected input function) in a set of computer simulation studies. Dynamic PET FDG data were obtained in eight human studies and blood samples were obtained during the study. As compared to the results with the uncorrected input function, the estimates of k4 by the new method were reduced by 69% into a range consistent with in vitro results. The method is effective in correcting Fmb spillover and leads to more accurate estimates of MMRGlc. The method also allows larger regions of interest (up to 150 mm2) to be drawn over the LV in dynamic PET images, thereby reducing the noise level in the input function.

Effects of modified pharmacologic stress approaches on hyperemic myocardial blood flow

Pharmacologic stress testing with 0.56 mg/kg of intravenous dipyridamole is frequently used to noninvasively detect coronary artery disease (CAD). However, high-dose dipyridamole (0.80 mg/kg) or the combination of standard-dose dipyridamole (0.56 mg/kg) with the isometric handgrip maneuver might evoke a greater coronary hyperemic response.

METHODS

To evaluate the effect of modified pharmacologic stress tests, myocardial blood flow as quantified in 11 male subjects (mean age: 27 +/- 7 yr) during standard-dose dipyridamole (0.56 mg/kg), high-dose dipyridamole (0.80 mg/kg) and standard-dose dipyridamole combined with the isometric handgrip exercise using dynamic PET and a two-compartment model for 13N-ammonia.

RESULTS

Systolic blood pressure, heart rate and rate pressure product remained unchanged from standard to high-dose dipyridamole but increased with the addition of the isometric handgrip. Myocardial blood flow was unchanged from standard to high-dose dipyridamole but was lower with the addition of the isometric handgrip.

CONCLUSION

The hyperemic response induced by standard-dose dipyridamole cannot be further enhanced by high-dose dipyridamole. The addition of the isometric handgrip exercise results in a modest, but significant decline in hyperemic blood flow possibly due to increased extravascular resistive forces or an increase in a mediated coronary vasoconstriction associated with exercise.

Noninvasive assessment of myocardial perfusion and metabolism: feasibility of registering gated MR and PET images

OBJECTIVE

Positron emission tomography (PET), the reference technique for in vivo noninvasive assessment of myocardial perfusion and metabolism, is hampered by limited resolution and low signal-to-noise ratio. Cardiac MR imaging, on the other hand, provides excellent soft-tissue contrast. This study examines the feasibility of combining the information of these two complementary techniques by the three-dimensional superimposition of regional myocardial blood flow or substrate metabolism as depicted in cardiac PET images on comparable MR images at the same cardiac phase and spatial location.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

Three-dimensional, gated PET and MR images of the heart were acquired at different phases of the cardiac cycle from six normal volunteers and from one patient with coronary artery disease that had been detected by coronary angiography. An interactive algorithm using morphologic operators was developed to contour the left ventricle on the MR and PET images. A three-dimensional surface-fitting technique was used to register the left ventricle surfaces. The accuracy of registration was estimated using 80 internal landmarks from six volunteer scans.

RESULTS

These techniques yielded PET images resliced along the same spatial location and orientation as the MR images both in the transaxial and short-axis views. The average residual, a measure of the goodness of fit, was 26 (+/- 5.6) for the systolic and 13 (+/- 6.1) for the diastolic images compared with an increase of that index from 9.3 at the best fit to 13.2 when the images were deliberately misaligned by 2 mm in each of two directions. We verified that MR and PET images could be aligned with an accuracy of 1.95 mm (+/- 1.6), which was approximately equal to the larger of the two pixel sizes (i.e., 1.6 mm on PET images).

CONCLUSION

MR and PET images of the heart at identical cardiac phases can be accurately superimposed. Both transaxial and short-axis views can be obtained, the latter being more useful for PET quantification. This technique offers the potential for characterizing regional interactions among contractile function, blood flow, and substrate metabolism, especially when these are altered regionally in cardiac diseases.

Quantification of the extent and severity of perfusion defects in canine myocardium by PET polar mapping

This study validates perfusion defect extent and severity as derived by PET polar maps in vivo against measurements derived from radiolabeled microspheres.

METHODS

In seven open-chest dogs, either the left anterior descending (n = 11) or left circumflex coronary artery (n = 13) were ligated sequentially from distal to proximal. After each occlusion, gated PET images were acquired with 13N-ammonia (20 mCi) while radiolabeled microspheres were administered into the left atrium. The transaxial PET images were reoriented into left ventricular short-axis cuts, including the apex, and polar maps were generated from circumferential activity profiles. PET polar maps were then compared with polar maps derived from microspheres after normal databases for 13N-ammonia and for microspheres were established. Nitrogen-13 or microsphere activities of less than 1.5 s.d. below the mean were defined as hypoperfused.

RESULTS

The extent (percent of left ventricular mass) and mean severity of the hypoperfused myocardium in the postmortem microsphere measurements ranged from 3% to 69% and 3% to 58%, respectively. The estimated extent by summed PET and by microspheres correlated by y = 4.95 + 0.95x (r = 0.91, s.e.e. = 0.085, p < 0.001) and mean severity by y = 5.52 + 0.87x (r = 0.85, s.e.e. = 0.101, p < 0.001). The extent and severity were similar for summed and gated PET studies.

CONCLUSION

The current study validated a polar map approach that provides accurate, quantitative assessment of the extent and severity of myocardial perfusion defects in vivo. Gating did not yield an improved correlation between PET and microsphere measurements. Thus, ungated PET images can be used to assess accurately the extent and severity of perfusion defects.

Myocardial blood flow at rest and during pharmacological vasodilation in cardiac transplants during and after successful treatment of rejection

BACKGROUND

The relative intracoronary flow reserve has been found to be reduced during acute transplant rejection, but the effects of rejection on absolute flows at rest and during hyperemia have not been established previously. This has now become possible through noninvasive quantification of myocardial blood flow with positron emission tomography.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Myocardial blood flow (MBF) at rest and during dipyridamole-induced hyperemia was quantified in 10 transplant patients (group A) during an acute, biopsy-proven rejection episode and again after successful immunosuppressive treatment and in 6 transplant patients (group B) without prior rejection episode. In group A patients, MBF during rejection averaged 1.7 +/- 0.3 mL.min-1.g-1 at rest and 2.5 +/- 0.9 mL.min-1.g-1 during hyperemia; after recovery, MBF at rest had declined to 1.2 +/- 0.3 mL.-1.g-1 (P < .001) but had increased to 3.9 +/- 1.1 mL.-1.g-1 (P < .001) during hyperemia. Flows after recovery from rejection were similar to those in the group B patients (0.9 +/- 0.2 and 3.9 +/- 0.7 mL.min-1.g-1). Flow reserve in the group A patients was only 1.5 +/- 0.5 during rejection but improved to 3.4 +/- 0.9 at recovery (P < .001) and thus remained lower than in the control patients (4.5 +/- 0.7, P < .05). Minimal coronary resistance during dipyridamole vasodilation was elevated during rejection (40 +/- 11 mm Hg.mL-1.min-1.g-1); after recovery, it no longer differed from that in the group B patients (26 +/- 11 versus 22 +/- 4 mm Hg.mL-1.min-1.g-1). MBF during rejection was increased relative to cardiac work, as demonstrated by significantly higher ratios of blood flow to rate-pressure product than those at recovery and in the control patients.

CONCLUSIONS

A decrease in hyperemic and an increase in resting myocardial blood flow, in excess to cardiac work, account for the previously reported reduction in coronary flow reserve. Because both alterations improve with antirejection treatment, they may reflect reversible alterations, presumably of endothelial function, local coagulation, and edema. The compromise in flow reserve and hyperemic flows may contribute to acute and chronic injury from rejection and thus provides a rationale for exercise restriction during rejection. The results further suggest a potential role for serial noninvasive flow measurements to guide immunosuppressive therapy.

Effect of exercise supplementation during adenosine infusion on hyperemic blood flow and flow reserve

Physical stress might modulate myocardial blood flow in near-maximally dilated coronary arteries by increasing coronary perfusion pressure, myocardial contractility, and heart rate. The net effect of these changes on hyperemic blood flows has not yet been defined in humans. To quantify the effect of physical exercise on pharmacologically induced hyperemia, myocardial blood flow was measured in 11 healthy volunteers. Measurements were performed with positron emission tomographic imaging with nitrogen-13 ammonia at rest, during intravenous (i.v.) adenosine administration (140 micrograms.kg-1.min-1 over 6 minutes), and during i.v. adenosine administration plus supine bicycle exercise with a maximal workload of 125 W. Myocardial blood flow was quantified by using a previously validated graphic analysis. Heart rate, systolic blood pressure, rate-pressure product, and mean aortic blood pressures were significantly higher during combined physical and pharmacologic stress than during pharmacologic stress alone. However, myocardial blood flow decreased from 2.6 +/- 0.4 to 2.2 +/- 0.4 ml.min-1.gm-1 with the addition of physical stress (p < 0.05). This decline was associated with a significant increase in coronary vascular resistance (35 +/- 6 vs 52 +/- 13 mm Hg.ml-1.gm.min; p < 0.05). Accordingly, myocardial flow reserve declined, from 5.0 +/- 0.9 to 4.3 +/- 1.0, with exercise supplementation (p < 0.05). Exercise in addition to pharmacologic stress increases coronary vascular resistance and thus significantly decreases hyperemic myocardial blood flow and flow reserve. This decrease results most likely from an increase in extravascular restrictive forces caused by higher ventricular pressures and contractility during physical stress.

Evaluation of the effect of glucose ingestion and kinetic model configurations of FDG in the normal liver

The liver plays an important role in glucose homeostasis. PET studies with 2-[F-18]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) of the liver (e.g., in neoplasms) require an understanding of the effects of dietary conditions on hepatic FDG uptake.

METHODS

Twenty studies were performed on 10 normal volunteers (ages 24 +/- 4) after fasting 4 to 19 hr and again after oral consumption of 100 g of dextrose to investigate tracer kinetic model configurations of FDG in the normal liver and to evaluate the impact of oral glucose on liver in normal subjects. Dynamic PET images were acquired for about 1 hr using a Siemens/CTI 931 tomograph.

RESULTS

A three-compartment model with an input function delay time parameter was the statistically preferred model configuration. The model estimated transport rate constant from plasma to liver, K1, increased significantly (p < 0.05) from 0.864 +/- 0.136 ml/min/g in fasting studies to 1.058 +/- 0.269 ml/min/g in postglucose studies. Glucose loading also significantly increased (p < 0.01) the rate constant for FDG phosphorylation, k3, from 0.005 +/- 0.003 min-1 in fasting studies to 0.013 +/- 0.007 min-1 in postglucose administration and, consequently, significantly increased both the phosphorylation fraction (k3/(k2 + k3)) and the influx constant (K1k3/(k2 + k3)). No significant differences in the liver-to-plasma transport rate constant, k2, dephosphorylation constant, k4, or distribution volume of FDG (K1/(k2 + k3)) were observed.

CONCLUSION

Dynamic FDG-PET studies can be used to evaluate kinetics of liver glucose metabolism. The results indicate that dietary conditions have a significant effect on hepatic FDG kinetics. Because of the higher net FDG uptake by normal liver after glucose loading, fasting conditions are preferred for FDG liver tumor studies to increase the tumor-to-background contrast.

Blood flow and metabolism by PET

Quantitative imaging capabilities, the large number of radiotracers labeled with short-lived positron-emitting isotopes, and appropriate tracer kinetic models offer a broad range of possibilities for probing different aspects of normal and diseased human myocardium. To some extent, PET has already had an impact on clinical cardiology and can decisively influence patient management. At the same time, PET offers tools for elucidating mechanisms of disease and for monitoring responses to treatment. It is also likely to offer new insights into myocardial function in normal and pathologic conditions. Although these insights may initially seem to lack clinical implications, they are likely to lead to a new hypothesis which can simultaneously be tested. The considerable range of assay techniques available with PET is likely to contribute to a more comprehensive characterization of abnormal processes. This, in turn, may lead to new therapeutic opportunities and, thus, result in a broader utilization of PET in cardiovascular disease.

Responses of blood flow, oxygen consumption, and contractile function to inotropic stimulation in stunned canine myocardium

To examine the effects of inotropic stimulation on regional myocardial blood flow (MBF), oxidative metabolism, and contractile function in stunned myocardium, nine closed-chest dogs were studied 2 hours postreperfusion after a 25 minute occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD). MBF was determined with microspheres, and regional myocardial oxygen consumption (MVO2) was estimated from the rate constant k1 of the rapid clearance phase of [1-11C] acetate time activity curves, recorded with dynamic positron emission tomography. Myocardium at risk was determined from [13N] ammonia images obtained during occlusion. Wall motion, assessed by two-dimensional echocardiography, was impaired in postischemic myocardium in all dogs 2 hours after reperfusion. Dobutamine infusion increased the rate pressure product by 70% +/- 31% and significantly improved contractile function in the postischemic region in all dogs. In remote myocardium, MVO2 increased from 5.7 +/- 1.2 to 8.6 +/- 1.6 mumol/gm/min, and blood flow from 0.87 +/- 0.16 to 1.52 +/- 0.42 ml/gm/min in response to dobutamine. In reperfused myocardium, MVO2 increased from 3.1 +/- 0.7 to 7.4 +/- 1.5 mumol/gm/min, and blood flow from 0.51 +/- 0.12 to 1.2 +/- 0.4 ml/gm/min. Oxygen extraction increased significantly in reperfused myocardium relative to remote myocardium consistent with a flow-limited response to dobutamine stimulation. The improvement in contractile function failed to correlate significantly with relative increases in MBF or MVO2, suggesting that mechanical function is not as tightly coupled as MBF and MVO2 in postischemic myocardium during inotropic stimulation.

Cardiac PET: microcirculation and substrate transport in normal and diseased human myocardium

The development and validation of quantitative assay techniques for the noninvasive study of human myocardium has opened up new avenues for the study of the normal and diseased human heart's physiology. Measurements of regional myocardial blood flow, which delineates nutrient rather than coronary blood flow, has enabled the exploration of the coronary microcirculatory physiology under normal and abnormal conditions. It permits the study of pharmacologic effects and of cardiovascular disease on the coronary resistance and capillary perfusion. If combined with metabolic assay techniques, the transcapillary exchange of substrates in oxygen can be quantified and changes imposed by physiologic interventions and substrate metabolism being measured. These study approaches further serve to characterize changes in response to reductions in coronary blood flow as well as altered states of potentially reversible contractile function. It is anticipated that further studies with PET will clarify at the microcirculatory level the changes associated with ischemia, post-ischemic stunning and myocardial hibernation. Further, it offers the possibility to measure potentially beneficial effects of therapeutic interventions or, alternatively, to provide a rationale for novel therapeutic approaches.

Metabolic imaging to assess myocardial viability

A potentially reversible impairment of contractile function in patients with chronic coronary artery disease characteristically exhibits a regional increase in glucose utilization or, more precisely, glucose extraction, as evidenced by the presence of a blood flow-glucose metabolism mismatch. The predictive accuracy of patterns of blood flow and glucose metabolism has now been established in more than 107 patients with 384 dysfunctional myocardial segments against the gold standard of myocardial viability, the functional outcome of contractile function after revascularization. According to long-term albeit retrospective follow-up studies, correlations exist between the blood flow-metabolism patterns and patient survival or cardiac morbidity. The same studies point out the high risk of patients with blood flow-metabolism mismatches and, at the same time, the considerable benefits derived from revascularization, i.e., reduced mortality and improvement in symptoms related to congestive heart failure. Imaging of the relative distribution of blood flow and of exogenous glucose utilization with PET therefore appears to be of considerable value for identifying high-risk patients as well as for stratifying patients to the most appropriate therapeutic management. This pertains especially to patients with poor left ventricular function and symptoms related to congestive heart failure. Assessment of myocardial viability in this particular patient group remains diagnostically challenging. On the other hand, as demonstrated by several investigations, blood flow metabolism imaging with 18F-deoxyglucose and PET is highly accurate in these patients for the identification of viable or reversibly dysfunctional myocardium.

Validation of a model for [1-11C]acetate as a tracer of cardiac oxidative metabolism

To develop a compartmental model for estimating myocardial oxygen consumption rate (MVO2) with [1-11C]acetate, the metabolic fate of radiolabeled acetate was determined in normoxic and ischemic conditions in isolated perfused rat hearts. Glutamate composed 63 +/- 1 and 44 +/- 7% of the total tissue radioactivity 2 min postinjection in normoxic and ischemic myocardium, respectively, and radiolabeled glutamate remained the largest fraction throughout 40 min of perfusion. Based on the biochemical pathway of the tracer and the temporal distribution of 14C-labeled metabolites, a six-compartment model was formulated. Studies using [1-11C]acetate and a pair of NaI detectors were then performed in the same perfused heart system to validate the model. Consistency between the model predictions and biochemical measurements of tissue and effluent metabolites supported the validity of the kinetic model in normoxic and ischemic conditions. Model-estimated MVO2 correlated well with experimentally measured MVO2 for normoxic, hypoxic, and ischemic conditions, with a slope of 0.97 (r = 0.95). In addition, the model-estimated rate constant, k42, which corresponded to the oxidative flux, correlated strongly with the myocardial clearance rate (k1 or kmono) determined from the tissue kinetics. These findings provide a mechanistic basis for the use of k1 or kmono as an index of MVO2 in both normoxic and ischemic myocardium studied with [1-11C]acetate and positron emission tomography.

Merits and limitations of radionuclide approaches to viability and future developments

Radionuclide imaging approaches have proved useful for the noninvasive identification of a potentially reversible impairment of contractile function in human myocardium. Foremost among these approaches are (1) the thallium 201 uptake, redistribution, and reinjection technique and (2) the evaluation of blood flow and metabolism with positron emission tomography (PET). Both general approaches appear equally accurate in predicting the postrevascularization outcome of regional contractile function. In patients with severely depressed left ventricular function who are likely to benefit most from viability assessments, the available evidence suggests that the metabolic approach with PET outperforms the more conventional approach with 201Tl. Several investigations have suggested that PET can identify those patients with a low probability of long-term survival, as well as patients in whom revascularization will reduce mortality rates, improve global left ventricular function, and relieve related symptoms of congestive heart failure. Moreover, several new radionuclide techniques are currently emerging. They probe key points of viable myocardium, such as residual oxidative metabolism, fatty acid uptake and oxidation, membrane function, and cellular homeostasis. Although initial observations have been encouraging, further validation and especially testing in those patients in whom viability assessment is clinically critical will be required. These new approaches may also offer new insights into the mechanisms of reversible contractile dysfunction in the human myocardium.

Persistent twenty-four hour SPECT thallium-201 defects, plasma thallium-201 concentrations and PET metabolic viability

Previous studies have shown that defects on four hour thallium-201 redistribution images often exhibit late reversibility, suggesting that the thallium-201 scintigraphic assessment of myocardial viability might be influenced by delayed redistribution imaging. To assess tissue metabolic activity in segments with late thallium-201 defects, positron emission tomography (PET) with 13NH3 and 18FDG was performed in 26 coronary artery disease patients with left ventricular dysfunction undergoing twenty-four hour SPECT thallium-201 scintigraphy. In 13 patients, plasma thallium-201 levels were obtained at the time of SPECT study and integrated tracer concentrations were determined one, two, four and twenty-four hours following injection. On circumferential profile image analysis of the PET images, ischemia was defined by preserved glucose metabolism in hypoperfused myocardium while infarction was identified by concordant reductions in both perfusion and glucose metabolism. Nineteen patients had stress-redistribution SPECT studies and seven had rest-redistribution SPECT studies. Using a semi-quantitative scoring system, four experienced observers visually identified 100 fixed, 17 partially reversible and twelve completely reversible segmental SPECT thallium-201 defects. On PET, metabolic activity was identified in 51 (51%) fixed defects (21 PET ischemia, 30 PET normal) and nine (53%) partially reversible defects (five PET ischemia, four PET normal). Of the twelve completely reversible thallium-201 defects, six (50%) were normal on PET, five (42%) had PET ischemia and one (8%) had PET infarction. The relative number of fixed thallium-201 defects with metabolic activity on PET did not depend on whether a stress or rest thallium-201 study was performed, or on whether the plasma thallium-201 integral concentration was high or low relative to mean values at any time point. Despite delayed redistribution imaging, PET imaging identifies glucose metabolic activity, and therefore residual tissue viability, in the majority of fixed twenty-four hour thallium-201 defects.

A refined method for quantification of myocardial oxygen consumption rate using mean transit time with carbon-11-acetate and dynamic PET

The utility of the mean transit time equation was investigated for estimation of the myocardial clearance rate constant of 11C-acetate, which is proportional to myocardial oxygen consumption rates. The mean transit time approach was also employed to generate parametric images of the clearance rate constant of 11C-acetate with dynamic PET imaging in 20 normal human studies. Input function delays and cutoff errors due to the truncation of the myocardial tissue time-activity curve at a finite time were corrected. The clearance rate constants estimated by mean transit time correlated well with the estimates by conventional monoexponential fitting (15 min (truncation time): Y = 0.01 + 0.94X, correlated coefficient (r) = 0.99; 16 min: Y = 0.03 + 0.94X, r = 0.98; 20 min: Y = 0.03 + 0.84X, r = 0.99). The clearance rate constants estimated by the mean transit time approach also correlated well (r = 0.94) with the measured rate-pressure products. The quality and noise level of parametric images of the clearance rate constants generated by mean transit time are improved over those generated by monoexponential fitting. Additional advantages of the mean transit time approach compared to the standard monoexponential fitting method for estimating myocardial clearance rate constant of 11C-acetate include ease of input function delay correction, less sensitivity to the shape of the input function and elimination of subjective data selection of the linear portion of the clearance data on a semilog plot. Thus, this approach is expected to facilitate objective quantitative analysis of indices of myocardial oxygen consumption.

Quantification and parametric imaging of renal cortical blood flow in vivo based on Patlak graphical analysis

Patlak graphical analysis was applied to quantify renal cortical blood flow with N-13 ammonia and dynamic positron emission tomography. Measurements were made in a swine model of kidney transplantation with a wide range of normal and abnormal renal blood flows (N = 57 studies) and in 20 healthy human volunteers (N = 45 studies). Estimates of renal cortical blood flow by the Patlak method were compared to those from a two-compartment model for N-13 ammonia. In addition, estimates of renal cortical blood flow by the N-13 ammonia PET approach were compared in 10 normal human volunteers to estimates by the metabolically inert, freely diffusible O-15 water and a one-compartment model. Patlak graphical analysis estimates of renal cortical blood flow correlated linearly with the standard two-compartment model in pigs (y = -0.05 + 1.01x, r = 0.99) and in humans (y = 0.57 + 0.88x, r = 0.93). Estimates of renal cortical blood flow by O-15 water in human volunteers were also linearly correlated with those by N-13 ammonia and the Patlak graphical analysis (y = 0.71 + 0.84x, r = 0.86). Renal cortical blood flow estimates were highly reproducible both with N-13 ammonia and O-15 water measurements in humans. It is concluded that the Patlak graphical analysis with N-13 ammonia dynamic positron emission tomograpic imaging renders accurate and reproducible estimates of renal cortical blood flow. Moreover, the graphical analysis approach is 1,000 times faster than the standard model fitting approach and suitable for generating parametric images of renal blood flow in the clinical setting.

Consideration of measurements of myocardial blood flow with positron-emission tomography

The available data suggest that the different approaches permit the noninvasive quantification of regional myocardial blood flow in humans with comparable degrees of accuracy. Much of this accuracy depends on how carefully such measurements are performed and on the attention paid to detail when quantitative information is derived from the serially acquired PET images. Although absolute values for estimated flow may differ among laboratories and among techniques, consistency in analysis of data is of utmost importance. Yet, the choice of a specific measurement approach is often determined by practical considerations specific to a given laboratory. Factors are availability of a given tracer, ease of synthesis, proximity of the cyclotron to the scanner, instrument performance, as well as the type of studies performed in the same laboratory in other organs and associated needs for a given tracer. On the other hand, it is clear that the technology for quantifying blood flow in human myocardium has reached a point at which it can be applied routinely and reliably for the study of coronary circulatory physiology and pathophysiology of the human heart. What remains less certain at present is to what extent such quantitative approaches will augment the accuracy with which coronary artery disease can be diagnosed and characterized, and the effects of therapy monitored. However, it is clear that these novel approaches are likely to offer new insights into the pathophysiology of other than apparent coronary artery disease, as exemplified by the initial observations in patients with syndrome-X or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Influence of age and hemodynamics on myocardial blood flow and flow reserve

BACKGROUND

Aging is associated with changes of the systolic blood pressure that may increase cardiac work and myocardial blood flow at rest and reduce the myocardial flow reserve. This might be misinterpreted as age-related impairment of the coronary vasodilator capacity.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Myocardial blood flow was quantified at rest and after administration of intravenous dipyridamole in 40 healthy volunteers (12 women and 28 men) with 13N-ammonia and positron emission tomography. Eighteen of the normal subjects were less than and 22 were older than 50 years (31 +/- 9 versus 64 +/- 9 years). The resting rate-pressure product was lower in the younger than in the older subjects (6895 +/- 1070 versus 8634 +/- 1890; P < 0.01). Myocardial blood flow at rest averaged 0.76 +/- 0.17 mL.min-1.g-1 in the younger volunteers and 0.92 +/- 0.25 mL.min-1.g-1 in the older volunteers (P < 0.05). Hyperemic blood flows did not differ between younger and older subjects (3.0 +/- 0.8 versus 2.7 +/- 0.6 mL.min-1.g-1; P = NS); however, minimal coronary resistance was higher in the older subjects. Corrected for indexes of coronary driving pressure, hyperemic flow was lower in older than in younger normal subjects. The higher resting blood flows combined with similar hyperemic flows resulted in a lower myocardial flow reserve in the older than in the younger normal subjects (4.1 +/- 0.9 versus 3.0 +/- 0.70; P < 0.0001). The flow reserve was more closely correlated with resting than with hyperemic blood flows.

CONCLUSIONS

Aging does not alter significantly dipyridamole-induced hyperemic flows; although coronary vascular resistance after dipyridamole was somewhat increased in older subjects. The gradual decline of the myocardial blood flow reserve correlates with an age-related increase of baseline myocardial work and blood flow. These findings suggest that the reduced flow reserve with age is primarily due to increased cardiac work and blood flow at rest rather than to an abnormal vasodilator capacity.

Metabolism in non-ischemic myocardium during coronary artery occlusion and reperfusion

Blood flow and metabolism in non-ischemic myocardium were studied at baseline and during occlusion and reperfusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery in closed chest dogs using positron emission tomography. Myocardial blood flow (MBF) and oxygen consumption (MVO2) in non-ischemic tissue were each increased by 28% relative to the rate pressure product during occlusion, consistent with increased work to compensate for the dyskinetic segment. MVO2 in non-ischemic sectors remained elevated relative to the rate pressure product early (1-2 h) post-reperfusion, 21% above baseline, but subsequently normalized. When sectors with normal blood flow during occlusion were divided into sectors adjacent to and remote from the risk zone, MBF in the 2 sector groups was similar at all times, but metabolic differences were found. MVO2 was depressed by 15% in adjacent relative to remote sectors 1 day post-reperfusion, with a concomitant 62% increase in glucose metabolic rate; relative increases in glucose metabolism were found only when glucose metabolism was low in remote myocardium, suggesting a decreased suppressibility of glucose metabolism in adjacent myocardium. The kinetics of (1-11C] palmitate were also altered in adjacent sectors, consistent with a small increase in esterification relative to oxidation of long chain fatty acids. Thus, sectors adjacent to ischemic segments show metabolic changes similar to those seen in reversibly injured post-ischemic tissue, despite normal blood flow during occlusion.

Assessment of the effects of dobutamine on myocardial blood flow and oxidative metabolism in normal human subjects using nitrogen-13 ammonia and carbon-11 acetate

The dual purposes of this study with positron emission tomography were to measure the effects of dobutamine on myocardial blood flow and oxidative metabolism, and to compare carbon-11 (C-11) acetate versus nitrogen-13 (N-13) ammonia in quantitating flow in normal subjects. Flow was quantitated with N-13 ammonia at rest and at peak dobutamine infusion (40 micrograms/kg/min) in 21 subjects. In 11 subjects, oxidative metabolism was also estimated at rest and peak dobutamine infusion using the clearance rate of C-11 acetate, k mono (min-1). A 2-compartment kinetic model was applied to the early phase of the C-11 acetate data to estimate flow. The rest and peak dobutamine rate-pressure products were 7,318 +/- 1,102 and 19,937 +/- 3,964 beats/min/mm Hg, respectively, and correlated well (r = 0.77) with rest and peak dobutamine flows of 0.77 +/- 0.14 and 2.25 ml/min/g determined using N-13 ammonia as a flow tracer. Rest and dobutamine flows estimated with C-11 acetate were highly correlated with those determined with N-13 ammonia (r = 0.92). k mono increased from 0.05 +/- 0.01 to 0.18 +/- 0.02 min-1, and correlated highly with the increase in flows (r = 0.91) and rate-pressure products (r = 0.94). Thus, the increase in cardiac demand associated with dobutamine is highly correlated with an increase in supply and oxidative metabolism. C-11 acetate is a unique tracer that can be used to image both flow and metabolism simultaneously.

Regional myocardial blood flow and glucose utilization in symptomatic patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

BACKGROUND

Previous studies suggested the presence of myocardial ischemia in symptomatic patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Positron emission tomography, a technique that can identify metabolic consequences of ischemia in coronary artery disease, permits the noninvasive measurements of regional myocardial blood flow and glucose metabolism. This new quantitative imaging approach should therefore be suitable for detecting a possible enhancement of glucose utilization in myocardium of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and thus may help to elucidate the pathomechanism of ischemia in this disease.

METHODS AND RESULTS

In 13 symptomatic patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, myocardial blood flow and glucose utilization were measured with intravenous N-13-ammonia and F-18 deoxyglucose at rest and, in four patients, again during supine bicycle exercise. At rest, blood flow was significantly lower in hypertrophied than in normal myocardium (0.78 +/- 0.19 versus 0.99 +/- 0.13 mL.min-1.g-1, p < 0.025), whereas rates of glucose utilization were similar (0.88 +/- 0.31 versus 0.87 +/- 0.35 mumol.min-1.g-1). With exercise, blood flow and glucose utilization failed to increase in hypertrophic and normal segments but became more heterogeneously distributed throughout the left ventricular myocardium. Blood flow-metabolism mismatches indicative of myocardial ischemia were noted in three patients at rest and in three of the four patients during exercise and were due to reduced flow in the presence of maintained glucose uptake. The discordance between flow and glucose metabolism in hypertrophied myocardium was significantly more prominent in younger than in older patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Normal or even elevated rates of glucose utilization and the presence of diminished blood flow in hypertrophied relative to normal myocardium suggest the presence of myocardial ischemia in symptomatic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The age dependence of blood flow metabolism disparity suggests differences in the underlying pathophysiology or severity of disease.

Factors affecting myocardial 2-[F-18]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose uptake in positron emission tomography studies of normal humans

The goal of this study was to identify the anatomic and physiologic factors affecting left ventricular myocardial 2-[F-18]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) uptake and myocardial glucose utilization rates (MRGlc) in normal humans. Eighteen healthy male volunteers were studied in the fasting state (4-19 h) and 16 after oral glucose loading (100 g dextrose) with positron emission tomography (PET) and FDG. Substrate and hormone concentrations were measured in each study. The kinetics of myocardial FDG uptake were evaluated using both a three-compartment model and Patlak graphical analysis. Systolic blood pressures and rate pressure products were similar in the fasting and postglucose states. MRGlc averaged 0.24 +/- 0.17 mumol/min/g in fasting subjects and rose to 0.69 +/- 0.11 mumol/min/g after glucose loading. Phosphorylation rate constant, k3, and MRGlc were linearly related (P < 0.001). Increases in MRGlc following glucose loading were correlated with plasma glucose, insulin and free fatty acid concentrations, ratios of insulin to glucagon levels, and influx rate constants of FDG. Glucose loading improved the diagnostic image quality due to more rapid clearance of tracer from blood and higher myocardial FDG uptake. When MRGlc, glucose and insulin concentrations, and insulin to glucagon ratios exceeded 0.2 mumol/min/g, 100 mg/dl, 19 microU/ml, and 0.2 microU/pg, respectively, myocardial uptake of FDG was always adequate for diagnostic use. FDG image quality and MRGlc were similar after relatively short (6 +/- 2 h) and overnight (16 +/- 2 h) fasting. Significant (P < 0.05) regional heterogeneity of myocardial FDG uptake and MRGlc was observed in both the fasting and the postglucose studies. MRGlc and FDG uptake values in the posterolateral wall were higher than those in the anterior wall and septum. Thus, both 6-h and overnight fasts resulted in similarly low myocardial glucose utilization rates. While MRGlc and myocardial FDG uptake depended on plasma glucose, free fatty acid, and insulin concentrations, the results also suggest an additional dependency on plasma glucagon levels. Regional heterogeneities in myocardial FDG uptake and MRGlc are evident and independent of the subjects' dietary state. These regional heterogeneities need to be considered in studies of patients with cardiac disease.