Dynamic SPECT with assessment myocardial blood flow and coronary flow reserve in MINOCA patients: comparison with cardiac magnetic resonance
Authors: Mochula A , Mochula OV , Maltseva AN , Vorobyeva DA , Ryabov VV , Zavadovsky KV 
Published: February 2021

Funding Acknowledgements

Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – National budget only. Main funding source(s): grant of the President of the Russian Federation

Background. In recent years a group of patients with acute myocardial infarction without obstructive coronary artery disease (MINOCA) is of interest. In this group of patients, there is a lack of information related to myocardial perfusion, blood flow and reserve, which could be important in term of risk and prognosis assessment.

Purpose. To assess the global and regional myocardial blood flow and coronary flow reserve impairment in MINOCA patients compared to cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR).

Methods. The study group comprised 28 patients (18 male, mean 62.9 ± 10.7years) with acute coronary syndrome. Based on ICA results all patients were divided into two groups: 1) MINOCA (n = 11); 2) patients with myocardial infarction with obstructive CAD (MICAD) (n = 17). A total of 12/17 (71%) MICAD patients underwent PCI with stenting; in 2/12 cases two arteries were revascularized.

Within 7-10 days after admission to the hospital all patients underwent SPECT myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS) with the assessment of standard indices (SSS, SRS, SDS) and quantitative parameters: rest MBF (rMBF), stress MBF (sMBF) and CFR (on CZT gamma-camera). Also, all patients underwent CMR with evaluation of infarct size (IF), microvascular obstruction (MVO), size of myocardial edema (ME) and transmural extent of myocardial infarction (TE).

Results Visual analysis showed that SSS differed significantly (p = 0.001) among MINOCA and MICAD groups: 5 (3;6) vs 10 (5;13), respectively. According to the quantitative MPS data analysis, global sMBF and CFR values were significantly higher in MINOCA than in MICAD patients group: 1.2 (0.82;1.69) ml/min/g vs 0.62 (0.52;0.9) ml/min/g; 1.96 (1.23;2.42) vs 1.16 (0.98;1.64) , respectively.

CMR indices such as IS, ME and TE were significantly lower in MINOCA compared to MICAD patients: 1.6 (0;7.8) vs 14.8 (6.3;22.6)%; 8(0;14) vs 18.5 (10;23)%; 0 (0;5) vs 18 (10;25), respectively. Seven(40%) MICAD group patients showed MVO, whereas there were no such patients in MINIOCA group.

The regional analysis revealed that sMBF and CFR were significantly lower in LV regions characterized by myocardial injury compared to non-injured regions (based on CMR data): 0.78 (0.51;0.94) ml/min/g vs 1.11 (0.82;1.4) and 1.22 (0.91;1.74) vs 1.52 (1.14;2.42), respectively. Also, we found out significant correlation between regional quantitative SPECT indices and transmural extent of myocardial infarction evaluated by CMR: r=–0.4 for sMBF; r=–0.35 for CFR (p &lt; 0.05).

Conclusion. The analysis of quantitative MPS SPECT parameters showed that such approach allows identifying MBF and CFR disturbances both on global and regional level. These results showed that MINOCA patients characterized by mild reduction of myocardial blood flow and perfusion assessed visually and quantitatively. It means that despite the absence of obstructive coronary artery lesion this group of patients has more pronounced risk of cardiac events and need more aggressive observation and treatment.