Clinical Advantages of PET Over SPECT for MPI-Clinical Advantages of PET Over SPECT for MPI

Video Transcription

Video Summary

In the webinar, Dr. Marcelo Di Carli highlights the clinical advantages of PET over SPECT for myocardial perfusion imaging. He explains that PET offers improved accuracy in diagnosing both obstructive and non-obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD), particularly in higher-risk patients. Unlike SPECT, PET quantifies blood flow, providing better detection of diffuse coronary and microvascular diseases, which are prevalent today. The transition to PET stems from the changing epidemiology of coronary disease, where many patients with chest pain do not have obstructive disease. Studies demonstrate PET's superior performance in identifying myocardial ischemia, offering significant risk stratification benefits. For patients with microvascular disease, PET can reclassify risk by examining flow reserve, crucial for guiding potential revascularization treatments. Though randomized trials are pending, current data suggests that PET may be essential for future chronic CAD evaluations and management decisions.

Keywords

PET

SPECT

myocardial perfusion imaging

coronary artery disease

microvascular disease

risk stratification