J Cardiovasc Imaging.  2022 Jul;30(3):169-180. 10.4250/jcvi.2021.0189.

Evaluation of Non-infarct-Related Arteries Using C-11 Acetate PET in STEMI With Multivessel Disease

• Cho SG
• Kim M
• Lee SH
• Park KS
• Kim J
• Moon JB
• Song HC

• KMID: 2531807
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4250/jcvi.2021.0189

Abstract

BACKGROUND
We analyzed whether C-11 acetate positron emission tomography (PET) can be used for the evaluation of non-infarct-related artery (NIRA) in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and multivessel disease.
METHODS
We prospectively enrolled 31 patients with STEMI and at least one NIRA stenosis (diameter stenosis [DS] ≥ 50%). C-11 acetate PET was performed after successful revascularization for the infarct-related artery (IRA). Myocardial blood flow (MBF) and oxidative metabolism (k _mono ) were measured and compared between NIRA vs. IRA, stenotic (DS ≥ 50%) vs. non-stenotic (DS < 50%) NIRAs, and NIRAs with significant stenosis (DS ≥ 70% or fractional flow reserve [FFR] ≤ 0.80) vs. those without (neither DS ≥ 70% nor FFR ≤ 0.80). The correlations between PET and angiographic parameters were also analyzed.
RESULTS
MBF and k _mono were significantly higher in NIRAs than those in IRAs. Stenotic NIRAs showed significantly reduced stress MBF, myocardial flow reserve (MFR), relative flow reserve (RFR) (0.72 ± 0.12 vs. 0.82 ± 0.14; p = 0.001), and stress k _mono , as compared to those in non-stenotic NIRAs. NIRAs with significant stenosis had significantly lower stress MBF, MFR, and RFR (0.70 ± 0.10 vs. 0.80 ± 0.14; p = 0.001). RFR showed the best, but modest linear correlation with DS of NIRA stenosis (r = −0.429, p = 0.001). RFR > 0.81 could effectively exclude the presence of significant NIRA stenosis.
CONCLUSIONS
C-11 acetate PET could be a feasible alternative noninvasive modality in patients with STEMI and multivessel disease, by excluding the presence of significant NIRA stenosis.

Keyword

ST elevation myocardial infarction; Positron emission tomography; Myocardial perfusion imaging; Oxygen consumption