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. 2010 Dec;17(6):1050-7.
doi: 10.1007/s12350-010-9297-0. Epub 2010 Oct 21.

Automatic and visual reproducibility of perfusion and function measures for myocardial perfusion SPECT

Yuan Xu  1 , Sean Hayes, Iftikhar Ali, Terrence D Ruddy, R Glenn Wells, Daniel S Berman, Guido Germano, Piotr J Slomka
Affiliations

Automatic and visual reproducibility of perfusion and function measures for myocardial perfusion SPECT

Yuan Xu et al. J Nucl Cardiol. 2010 Dec.

Abstract

Background: We define the repeatability coefficients (RC) of key quantitative and visual perfusion and function parameters that can be derived by the QGS/QPS automated software and by expert visual observer from gated myocardial perfusion SPECT (MPS) scans.

Methods: Standard QGS/QPS algorithms have been applied to derive quantitative perfusion and function parameters in 200 99mTc-tetrofosmin rest/stress MPS scans, obtained in 100 consecutive patients who underwent 2 separate gated rest/stress scans on the same camera. Variables included stress, rest, and ischemic total perfusion deficit (TPD), ejection fraction, motion, and thickening. Visual perfusion/motion scores were derived by an expert reader using randomized scan order and normalized to % myocardium.

Results: Quantitative and visual parameters were highly reproducible with smaller RC for some quantitative measures as compared to visual measures (P < .0001). RC for quantitative measures were 3.3% for stress TPD, 1.8% for rest TPD, and 3.2% for ischemic TPD and for visual scoring 4.8% for stress, 3.8% for rest, and 4.3% for ischemic (P ≤ .002). The results in each vessel territory showed that in the right coronary artery (RCA) territory the quantitative approach had improved reproducibility as compared to visual reading. Visual thickening scoring was more reproducible than motion scoring (P < .0001).

Conclusions: This study demonstrates that standard perfusion and function parameters derived from MPS by visual or quantitative analysis are highly reproducible with some advantages to the quantitative approach.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Differences of global perfusion defects. The left column shows the differences of visual perfusion results between test and retest; right column shows the differences of TPD results between test and retest. The first row shows the differences of normalized visual stress perfusion and STPD between test and retest; the second row shows the differences of normalized visual rest perfusion and RTPD between test and retest; the third row shows the differences of normalized visual ischemic perfusion and ITPD between test and retest
Figure 2
Figure 2
RC of stress and ischemic perfusion measures for all studies and for abnormal studies Note: CAD includes all cases with prior myocardial infarction, percutaneous coronary intervention, or coronary artery bypass graft. Abnr defined by STPD ≥ 3% includes abnormal cases who have STPD ≥ 3%, Abnr defined by STPD ≥ 5% includes abnormal cases who have STPD ≥ 5%, VSSS% means normalized visual summed scores for stress, and VSDS% means normalized visual summed difference score
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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