Noninvasive assessment of coronary stenoses by myocardial imaging during pharmacologic coronary vasodilation. VI. Detection of coronary artery disease in human beings with intravenous N-13 ammonia and positron computed tomography

Journal Article · Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1982 · Am. J. Cardiol.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/0002-9149(82)90045-5· OSTI ID:5176753

Schelbert, H R; Wisenberg, G; Phelps, M E; Gould, K L; Henze, E; Hoffman, E J; Gomes, A; Kuhl, D E

The possibility of detecting mild coronary stenoses with positron computed tomography and nitrogen (N-13) ammonia administered during pharmacologic coronary vasodilation was previously demonstrated in chronically instrumented dogs. The feasibility of using this technique in human beings and its sensitivity in determining the degree and extent of coronary artery disease were examined in 13 young normal healthy volunteers and 32 patients with angiographically documented coronary artery disease. N-13 ammonia was administered intravenously and its distribution in the left ventricular myocardium recorded at rest and during dipyridamole-induced coronary hyperemia. In the 13 volunteers, N-13 activity was homogeneous at rest and during hyperemia, whereas 31 of the 32 patients had regional defects on the hyperemic images not present during rest. All six patients with double, all 10 with triple and 15 of 16 patients with single vessel disease (97 percent) were correctly identified with the technique. Two vessel involvement was correctly identified in five of the six patients with double vessel disease and three vessel disease in six of 10 patients. Of all 58 coronary stenoses, 52 (90 percent) were correctly identified. In a subgroup of 11 patients, the technique was compared with exercise thallium-201 planar images, which were abnormal in 10 (91 percent) whereas N-13 images were abnormal in all 11. Of the 19 stenosed coronary arteries in this subgroup, 11 (58 percent) were correctly identified with thallium-201 and 17 (89 percent) with tomography (p less than 0.01). It is concluded that cross-sectional imaging of the myocardial distribution of N-13 ammonia administered during pharmacologic coronary vasodilation is a highly sensitive and accurate means for noninvasive detection of coronary stenoses in human beings and for estimating the extent of coronary artery disease.

• Research Organization: Division of Nuclear Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, School of Medicine
• OSTI ID: 5176753
• Journal Information: Am. J. Cardiol.; (United States), Vol. 49:5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE
CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES
DIAGNOSIS
CORONARIES
VASODILATION
MYOCARDIUM
POSITRON COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY
NITROGEN 13
AMMONIA
DOGS
MAN
PATIENTS
ANIMALS
ARTERIES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-PLUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BLOOD VESSELS
BODY
CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM
COMPUTERIZED TOMOGRAPHY
DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES
DISEASES
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
EMISSION COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY
HEART
HYDRIDES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MAMMALS
MINUTES LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
MUSCLES
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NITROGEN HYDRIDES
NITROGEN ISOTOPES
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ORGANS
PRIMATES
RADIOISOTOPES
TOMOGRAPHY
VERTEBRATES
550601* - Medicine- Unsealed Radionuclides in Diagnostics