A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY OF THE DIAGNOSTIC-ACCURACY OF A COMMUNITY HOSPITAL-BASED PET CENTER FOR THE DETECTION OF CORONARY-ARTERY DISEASE USING RB-82

A retrospective analysis has been carried out to determine the diagnos tic accuracy of PET of the heart with Rb-82 at a community hospital ba sed center. Methods: Utilization statistics were derived from a total of 1460 patients scanned for the first 36 mo of the center's operation . Diagnostic accuracy for detection of coronary artery disease (CAD) w as assessed using three readers blinded to the clinical information. A total of 287 rest and dipyridamole-stress scans of patients who had c oronary angiograms within 6 mo of the PET scan were selected by the co mputer for this study. Each rest/stress scan was read by at least two of the three readers. Results: The average sensitivity for all three r eaders was 87% for greater than 67% diameter stenosis and the average specificity was 88% for myocardial regions perfused by normal coronary arteries. The average accuracy was 88% for patients with greater than 67% diameter stenosis. Sensitivity and accuracy improved to 92% and 9 1% respectively for stenosis greater than 90% in diameter. Conclusion: These results compare well with published results from major hospital -based centers and the recently published results from a private PET c enter in Georgia.