Simplified protocol of cardiac 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography viability study in normoglycemic patients with known coronary artery disease ☆

Abstract Purpose The purpose was to evaluate quality of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG-PET) myocardial scans and its correlation with background glucose (BG) after simplified 5% intravenous glucose load protocol. Methods An intravenous glucose load protocol was applied in 69 normoglycemic patients with confirmed coronary artery disease. The blood glucose level was measured every 15min. Results Eighty-four percent of images were optimal, 8.7% suboptimal, and 7.3% uninterpretable. The quality of 18F-FDG-PET was BG independent and body mass index dependent ( P =.0007). Conclusions Simplified glucose load protocol is a safe and efficient method of preparation for FDG cardiac viability study in patients with normoglycemia.