Automatic Extraction of Myocardial Mass and Volume Using Parametric Images from Dynamic Nongated PET

• Dynamic cardiac PET is used to quantify molecular processes in vivo. However, measurements of left ventricular (LV) mass and volume require electrocardiogram-gated PET data. The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility of measuring LV geometry using nongated dynamic cardiac PET. Methods: Thirty-five patients with aortic-valve stenosis and 10 healthy controls underwent a 27-min C-11-acetate PET/CT scan and cardiac MRI (CMR). The controls were scanned twice to assess repeatability. Parametric images of uptake rate K-1 and the blood pool were generated from nongated dynamic data. Using software-based structure recognition, the LV wall was automatically segmented from K-1 images to derive functional assessments of LV mass (m(LV)) and wall thickness. End systolic and end-diastolic volumes were calculated using blood pool images and applied to obtain stroke volume and LV ejection fraction (LVEF). PET measurements were compared with CMR. Results: High, linear correlations were found for LV mass (r = 0.95), end-systolic volume (r = 0.93), and end-diastolic volume (r = 0.90), and slightly lower correlations were found for stroke volume (r = 0.74), LVEF (r = 0.81), and thickness (r = 0.78). Bland Altman analyses showed significant differences for m(LV) and thickness only and an overestimation for LVEF at lower values. Intra- and interobserver correlations were greater than 0.95 for all PET measurements. PET repeatability accuracy in the controls was comparable to CMR. Conclusion: LV mass and volume are accurately and automatically generated from dynamic C-11-acetate PET without electrocardiogram gating. This method can be incorporated in a standard routine without any additional workload and can, in theory, be extended to other PET tracers.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Radiologi och bildbehandling (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Medical Imaging (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

dynamic PET

stroke volume

myocardial mass

C-11-acetate

ejection fraction

myocardial Wall thickness

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)