title: Hybrid SPECT/CT for attenuation correction of stress myocardial perfusion imaging.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study aimed to determine whether attenuation correction using the Hybrid SPECT/CT reduced attenuation artifacts.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ninety-nine patients (55 men and 44 women) underwent coronary angiography and electrocardiography gated stress/rest myocardial perfusion imaging using Tc-99m sestamibi (MIBI) with CT-attenuation correction (CT-AC) for stress scans. Visual semi-quantitative analysis of the CT-AC and noncorrected perfusion images was performed. In this study, there was 39.3% moderate or severe misregistration. The overall specificity, sensitivity, and accuracy for noncorrected versus CT-AC were 62.9% versus 79.0% (P = 0.041), 94.6% versus 91.9% (P = NS), and 74.7% versus 83.8% (P = 0.035), respectively. CT-AC increased specificity in the right coronary artery region, from 77.9% to 98.7% (P = 0.000), accompanied by a decrease in specificity in the left anterior descending region, from 94.1% to 82.4% (P = 0.008). CT-AC significantly reduced defect scores in the inferior wall. This was more obvious in men than in women (P = 0.027). In the anterior wall, although a tendency for defect scores to increase with CT-AC was observed only in men, no significant difference was found between the gender (P = 0.049).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Attenuation correction using Hybrid SPECT/CT improved specificity in the right coronary artery, but decreased specificity in the left anterior descending. This technique is likely to be more useful in men than in women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, National Key Discipline of Medical Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Fanglan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xiaohong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ou
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016477:Artifacts; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055414:Myocardial Perfusion Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000379:methods*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*