PET/CT with 13N-ammonia Characteristics and Utility in Coronary Artery Disease

Isabel Carvajal-Juarez; Andrea Monroy-Gonzalez; Nilda Espinola-Zavaleta; Aloha Meave-Gonzalez; Erick Alexanderson-Rosas

doi:10.17996/anc.19-00100

Which PET Flow Tracer Is the Best for MBF Quantification?

PET/CT with ¹³N-ammonia

Characteristics and Utility in Coronary Artery Disease

Isabel Carvajal-Juarez, Andrea Monroy-Gonzalez, Nilda Espinola-Zavaleta, Aloha Meave-Gonzalez, Erick Alexanderson-Rosas

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Keywords: ¹³N-ammonia, Coronary artery disease, Global myocardial blood flow, Myocardial flow reserve, Positron emission tomography

JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

2019 Volume 5 Issue 1 Pages 63-68

DOI https://doi.org/10.17996/anc.19-00100

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Abstract

Currently, ¹³N-ammonia and Rubidium-82 (⁸²Rb) are the only FDA-approved myocardial perfusion positron emission tomography (PET) tracers for myocardial perfusion imaging in the evaluation of suspected or known coronary artery disease (CAD), quantification of left ventricular volumes and systolic function and quantification of global and regional myocardial blood flow (MBF) and myocardial flow reserve (MFR). Nevertheless, there are physical, chemical and molecular differences between them. The ideal perfusion tracer would include 100% extraction from blood to tissue, and 100% retention, resulting in a linear relationship between MBF and the measured tracer activity over a wide range. However, both ¹³N-ammonia and ⁸²Rb have limited characteristics. In this review, we aim to analyze ¹³N-ammonia in detail, and its differences with other radiotracers for the assessment of myocardial perfusion.

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