Hybrid Imaging: Integration of Nuclear Imaging and Cardiac CT
Section snippets
Rationale for integrating nuclear imaging and CT
For many decades, CT and nuclear imaging have followed separate and distinct developmental pathways. Both modalities have their strengths; CT scanners image cardiac and coronary anatomy with high spatial resolution, whereas nuclear imaging can identify a functional abnormality in, for example, myocardial perfusion, metabolism, or receptors. Although it may seem that in many cases it would be equally effective to view separately acquired CT and nuclear images for a given patient on adjacent
Diagnosing Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease
CTA provides excellent diagnostic sensitivity for stenoses in the proximal and mid segments (> 1.5 mm in diameter) of the main coronary arteries. Because of its relatively limited spatial resolution (compared with invasive angiography), the sensitivity of this approach is reduced substantially in more distal coronary segments and side branches.9 This limitation can be offset by the scintigraphic information that is generally not affected by the location of coronary stenoses. More importantly,
Summary
Innovation in noninvasive cardiovascular imaging is rapidly advancing our ability to image in great detail the structure and function in the heart and vasculature, and hybrid PET/CT and SPECT/CT represent clear examples of this innovation. By providing concurrent quantitative information about myocardial perfusion and metabolism with coronary and cardiac anatomy, hybrid imaging offers the opportunity for a comprehensive noninvasive evaluation of the burden of atherosclerosis and its physiologic
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Imagining the future of diagnostic imaging
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2015, Molecular and Multimodality Imaging in Cardiovascular DiseaseSNMMI/ASNC/SCCT guideline for cardiac SPECT/CT and PET/CT 1.0
2013, Journal of Nuclear MedicineCardiac imaging and catheterization
2013, Pathophysiology of Heart Disease: A Collaborative Project of Medical Students and Faculty: Fifth Edition