Published in:
01-10-2011 | Editorial Commentary
Attenuation correction for myocardial perfusion SPECT imaging: still a controversial issue
Author:
Alberto Cuocolo
Published in:
European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
|
Issue 10/2011
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Excerpt
The use of attenuation correction for cardiac single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) myocardial perfusion imaging has been discussed from the beginning. The value of attenuation correction is easy to accept, and it is generally recognized that it is important to discern if a tracer deficit is due to diminished myocardial perfusion or if it is an attenuation or motion artefact. An additional important problem is to establish whether the defect is really reversible or represents a result of scatter and interference from extracardiac tracer activity. It seems conceivable that attenuation correction should at least improve the problems related with an attenuation artefact. There are also additional potential advantages of attenuation correction, which have been outlined in many studies. However, the question of whether attenuation correction is needed is still unsolved and it has been debated for a long time. …