Creation and characterization of Japanese standards for myocardial perfusion SPECT: database from the Japanese Society of Nuclear Medicine Working Group.
OBJECTIVE
Standards for myocardial single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) adapted for a Japanese population were not available. The purpose of this study was to create standard files approved by the Japanese Society of Nuclear Medicine and to make known the characteristics of the myocardial perfusion pattern of this population.


METHODS
With the collaboration of nine hospitals, a total of 326 sets of exercise-rest myocardial perfusion images were accumulated from subjects with a low likelihood of cardiac diseases. The normal database included a (99m)Tc-MIBI/tetrofosmin myocardial perfusion study with 360 degrees (n = 80) and 180 degrees (n = 56) rotations, (201)Tl study with 360 degrees (n = 115) and 180 degrees rotations (n = 54) and a dual-isotope study with 360 degrees rotation (n = 27). The projection images were transferred by digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM) format and reconstructed and analyzed with polar maps.


RESULTS
The projection data from multiple centers were successfully transferred to a common format for SPECT reconstruction. When the average values were analyzed using a 17-segment model, myocardial counts in the septal segment differed significantly between 180 degrees and 360 degrees rotation acquisitions. Regional differences were observed between men and women in the inferior and anterior regions. A tracer difference between (99m)Tc and (201)Tl was also observed in some segments. The attenuation patterns differed significantly between subjects from the United States and those from Japan.


CONCLUSIONS
Myocardial perfusion data that were specific for the Japanese population were generated. The normal database can serve a standard for nuclear cardiology work conducted in Japan.
Nakajima
Kenichi
K
Kanazawa University Hospital, 13-1 Takara-machi, Kanazawa, 920-8641, Japan. nakajima@med.kanazawa-u.ac.jp
Kumita
Shinichiro
S
Ishida
Yoshio
Y
Momose
Mitsuru
M
Hashimoto
Jun
J
Morita
Koichi
K
Taki
Junichi
J
Yamashina
Shohei
S
Maruno
Hirotaka
H
Ogawa
Masami
M
Kubota
Masahiro
M
Takahashi
Munehiro
M
Odagawa
Tetsuro
T
Yokozuka
Koichi
K
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D015637:Gated Blood-Pool Imaging / Q000592:standards; D006321:Heart / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009683:Nuclear Medicine / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000097:blood / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D012015:Reference Standards; D012737:Sex Factors; D012955:Societies, Medical; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000592:standards*
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals