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Biomedical subjects

E Gordon Depuey

Publications and source records attributed to E Gordon Depuey.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

Role of F-18 FDG positron emission tomography (PET) in the assessment of myocardial viability.

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a functional imaging technique with important clinical applications in cardiology, oncology, and neurology. In cardiac imaging, its role has been extensively evaluated in the noninvasive diagnosis of coronary artery disease and in the determination of prognosis. Additionally, cardiac PET with F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) is very helpful in selection of patients with coronary artery disease and left ventricular dysfunction who would benefit from coronary artery revascularization. Cardiac PET is arguably considered by many as a gold standard in this particular application. F-18, unlike other positron emitters, has a reasonably long physical half-life, which permits its distribution through commercial radiopharmacies. This is further facilitated by increasing popularity of FDG PET in oncology, which makes cardiac FDG PET a practical option for hospitals and outpatient centers equipped with PET scanners. In addition, gamma camera single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) systems, routinely used in nuclear medicine departments, can be equipped with coincidence circuit or high-energy 511 KeV collimators, providing a cost-effective means of FDG cardiac imaging. Myocardial utilization of glucose as a substrate is variable, depending, among other factors, on serum levels of glucose and insulin. Therefore, patient preparation is important in obtaining good-quality images and in turn allowing for accurate interpretation of myocardial viability. There are various protocols to choose from that provide diagnostic image quality in both diabetic and nondiabetic patients. Mismatch between blood flow and FDG metabolism, an indicator of viable, jeopardized myocardium, can predict postrevascularization improvement in left ventricular function, symptomatic relief, and long-term survival.

Echocardiography, Stress↗

Prospective validation of a quantitative method for differentiating ischemic versus nonischemic cardiomyopathy by technetium-99m sestamibi myocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography.

BACKGROUND: Myocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) permits assessment of stress perfusion and resting left ventricular (LV) function. Quantitative analysis of perfusion patterns among patients with LV dysfunction offers an opportunity for developing criteria to differentiate ischemic from nonischemic cardiomyopathy. HYPOTHESIS: Quantitative assessment of SPECT may allow differentiation between ischemic and nonischemic cardiomyopathy. METHODS: We evaluated 144 patients with LV ejection fraction < or =40%, divided into 63 patients with nonischemic and 81 with ischemic cardiomyopathy. Mean relative myocardial counts were obtained for regions drawn over defect and normal zones on rest and stress polar perfusion maps. RESULTS: Multivariate logistic regression analysis of significant univariate SPECT predictors of ischemic cardiomyopathy revealed that the stress defect severity ratio (SDSR) was the best predictor of ischemic cardiomyopathy (p < 0.0001). By receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, an SDSR of < or =45% optimized prediction of ischemic cardiomyopathy (sensitivity 81%, specificity 96%). An SDSR of < or =45% occurred in 65 of 81 (80%) patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy, but in only 3 of the 63 (4%) patients with nonischemic cardiomyopathy (p < 0.0001). Applying the < or =45% SDSR threshold to a prospective group of 89 patients yielded a somewhat lower sensitivity (60%), but retained high specificity (91%) for identifying ischemic cardiomyopathy (p = NS vs. retrospective group). CONCLUSIONS: Presence of a severe and extensive stress perfusion defect is a hallmark of ischemic cardiomyopathy. By contrast, a mild stress perfusion defect (SDSR of >45%) is commonly present among patients with ischemic and nonischemic cardiomyopathy. An SDSR of < or =45% is a reproducible specific marker for identifying the presence of ischemic cardiomyopathy.

Aged↗

Infarct-induced wall motion abnormalities in aortocoronary bypass patients: Correlation with electrocardiographic, enzymatic, and scintigraphic diagnostic criteria.

Gated isotope ventriculograms performed 7 to 12 days postoperatively in 50 aortocoronary bypass patients with perioperative myocardial infarction (POMI) were compared with preoperative contrast ventriculograms. The diagnosis of POMI was based on serial electrocardiograms (EKGs), cardiac enzyme studies, and (99m)Tc-pyrophosphate (PYP) scintigraphy. Seven patients exhibited no new regional wall motion abnormalities. Nine had new areas of localized hypokinesis. The remaining 34 demonstrated localized akinesis or dyskinesis; 12 of these also exhibited a greater than 20% decrease in ejection fraction. The severity of the postoperative wall motion abnormality was paralleled by the intensity of PYP accumulation but not necessarily by the degree of cardiac enzyme elevation. Because they occurred in only 62% of patients, new Q waves were considered an insensitive indicator of POMI. Our study revealed that POMI frequently produces significant changes in left ventricular kinetics. Of the standard techniques utilized, the PYP scan had the greatest predictive value.

Journal Article↗

Left ventricular function early after aortic valve replacement for aortic regurgitation: Assessment by gated radionuclide ventriculography.

This study characterizes left ventricular performance early after aortic valve replacement for severe isolated aortic regurgitation. Gated radionuclide ventriculography studies in 13 patients showed that left ventricular end-diastolic volume was reduced after surgery and that ejection fraction dropped significantly. Despite the fall in ejection fraction, the postoperative cardiac index was significantly greater than the preoperative value. Radionuclide ventriculography is a useful and reliable means of noninvasively assessing left ventricular function soon after aortic valve replacement for aortic regurgitation.

Journal Article↗

Decreased septal wall thickening in patients with left bundle branch block.

OBJECTIVES: Septal wall motion abnormalities are frequently observed in patients with left bundle branch block (LBBB). However, septal wall thickening in LBBB patients has not been thoroughly evaluated. METHODS AND RESULTS: To investigate the relationship between septal wall motion and wall thickening, we studied 31 normal control subjects, 24 LBBB patients with normal wall motion (LBBB-NWM), and 24 LBBB patients with septal dyssynchrony (LBBB-SDS), all with a low likelihood (<15%) of coronary artery disease. The septal and lateral quadrants of the left ventricle were analyzed in stress 8-frame gated technetium 99m sestamibi tomograms. The percent wall thickening was calculated by use of a 25-segment polar map with the p-FAST software program by two independent methods: the regional count density increase from end diastole to end systole (CD method) and the geometric increase in the distance between the 50% thresholded endocardial and epicardial borders from end diastole to end systole (GD method). In addition, the ratio of septal/lateral percent wall thickening was calculated. The relative septal wall thickening in the entire LBBB population was decreased as compared with the normal control subjects (0.35 +/- 0.37 vs 0.81 +/- 0.17, P <.001). Decreased wall thickening was observed in not only LBBB-SDS patients but also to a lesser degree in LBBB-NWM patients (0.12 +/- 0.35, P <.001; 0.57 +/- 0.24, P =.005, respectively). This abnormality was most apparent when the CD method was used. CONCLUSIONS: Septal wall thickening is decreased in patients with LBBB even with normal wall motion. LBBB per se may compromise septal wall thickening, and dyssynchronous wall motion results in further deterioration of wall thickening.

Aged↗

Compared with 3-dimensional analysis, 2-dimensional gated SPECT analysis overestimates left ventricular ejection fraction in patients with regional dyssynchrony.

BACKGROUND: Left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF) is a powerful prognostic predictor in patients with heart disease. However, LVEF calculated by 2-dimensional (2D) modalities such as echocardiography by use of the "modified" Simpson's rule may be incorrect in patients with regional dyssynchrony, presumably because regions of dyssynchrony are excluded from analysis. METHODS AND RESULTS: To elucidate the difference between 2D and 3-dimensional (3D) methods with regard to LVEF calculation in patients with regional dyssynchrony, we compared LVEF derived from 8-frame gated technetium 99m sestamibi stress perfusion tomograms using commercially available 2D single photon emission computed tomography (SPECTEF) software that uses the modified Simpson's rule, 3D QGS, and investigational 3D p-FAST software in 136 left bundle branch block patients. Twenty-four patients had normal wall motion, whereas one hundred twelve showed septal dyssynchrony. Bland-Altman plots demonstrated that compared with QGS and p-FAST, SPECTEF overestimated LVEF in patients with septal dyssynchrony systemically by 8.6% and 11.3%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that compared with 3D modalities, 2D modalities that use the modified Simpson's rule, such as SPECT EF, overestimate LVEF in patients with dyssynchronous septal wall motion. Therefore 3D modalities are preferred to evaluate patients with regional dyssynchrony.

Aged↗

Feasibility of detecting cardiac torsion in myocardial perfusion gated SPECT data.

BACKGROUND: The dynamic twisting component of cardiac motion is not accounted for by radionuclide techniques so that maps of perfusion and wall thickening are motion-blurred by torsion. This study examined whether torsion can be estimated from gated single photon emission computed tomography data and whether torsion corrections affect cardiac measurements. METHODS AND RESULTS: Technetium 99m sestamibi myocardial perfusion gated tomograms were selected retrospectively for 52 patients who had x-ray contrast arteriograms: 12 with normal perfusion (group 1), 12 with abnormal perfusion (group 2), and 28 studied after angioplasty (group 3). The 8 gated perfusion maps were transformed by contrast normalization, the count minimums of which were tracked to quantify torsion. Measured torsion was used to correct maps of perfusion and wall thickening. Torsion was found to be visually detectable equally well in groups 1 and 2. Apical torsion was significantly greater for group 1 than groups 2 and 3 (15 degrees +/- 9 degrees vs 9 degrees +/- 15 degrees and 2 degrees +/- 12 degrees ) and was opposite in sign for patients with apical aneurysms (-4 degrees +/- 13 degrees ) and for patients after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) (-4 degrees +/- 15 degrees ). Maximum percent count differences were 10% +/- 16% between torsion-corrected versus uncorrected perfusion maps. The greatest wall thickening differences were seen for patients with left ventricular apical aneurysms and for patients after CABG versus group 1 (10% +/- 6% and 8% +/- 6% vs 3% +/- 1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: It is feasible to detect cardiac torsion in the majority of Tc-99m sestamibi myocardial perfusion scans. Abnormal twisting patterns distinguished patients after CABG and those with left ventricular aneurysms from subjects with normal perfusion in a manner similar to magnetic resonance imaging observations.

Angioplasty↗