Cardiac PET May Help Reduce Use of Angiograms and Bypass Surgery

The study's findings were published in the July 2007 issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Results of the study, performed by investigators from the State University of New York at Buffalo (UB; USA), provide a rationale for PET scanning to become the initial diagnostic test for assessing a patient's risk of heart attack, according to lead researcher Michael Merhige, M.D., UB clinical associate professor of nuclear medicine and director of the Heart Center of Niagara at Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center (NY, USA). "Because PET scanning is more accurate and provides a clearer picture of the state of the heart than conventional SPECT imaging, we found a decrease in the use of angiograms and bypass surgery by more than 50% if used as the first-line test with patients when all too often it is the last test.”

Dr. Merhige added, "Currently, cardiologists conduct a range of tests, including stress tests and an imaging procedure called single photon emission computed tomography, or SPECT. False readings from SPECT often put patients through angiograms that turn out to be normal. PET avoids most false-positives, as well as false-negatives, because the images have higher resolution and better contrast.”

Dr. Merhige's study, incorporating PET technology, demonstrates that invasive procedures such as coronary arteriography, coronary bypass surgery, and stent implantation are overused in the United States, contributing to unnecessary healthcare expense without improved patient outcomes. Furthermore, the study supports the idea that the future of cardiology lies in non-invasive imaging combined with the aggressive use of cholesterol lowering drugs and lifestyle changes including better nutrition, regular exercise, and smoking cessation.

Dr. Merhige's study concluded that significant lifestyle changes--very low-fat diet, exercise, cholesterol-lowering drugs, and stress management--are essential for successful medical management. Dr. Merhige commented, "For some patients, surgery seems like a quicker option, when it actually only addresses symptoms, not the underlying disease process.”


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State University of New York at Buffalo