Abstract
Previously, sympathetic reinnervation of the transplanted heart has been described using invasive catheterization techniques and noninvasive radionuclide imaging techniques. However, little is known about the agreement between these 2 methods. Thus, correlation between 11C-hydroxyephedrine (HED) PET and invasively measured norepinephrine (NE) release was investigated in transplant recipients in this study, Methods: Using PET and the catecholamine analog HED, 17 patients were studied between 2 mo and 13.6 y after transplantation. Based on results in completely denervated hearts, areas with HED retention >7%/min were defined as reinnervated. Additionally, transcardiac NE release induced by intravenous tyramine (55 uμg/kg) was measured by coronary sinus and aortic catheterization within 1 wk of the PET study. NE levels between coronary sinus and aortic root, ΔNECS-Ao, were calculated at baseline and after tyramine administration. Differences of more than 3 SD of baseline (>163 pg/mL) were interpreted as reinnervation. Results: HED retention indicated reinnervation in 10 patients. Maximal HED retention ranged from 4.3%/min to 16.4%/min./-ΔNECS-Ao 1 min after tyramine administration ranged between -10 pg/mL and 1157 pg/mL, and 8 patients were above the reinnervation threshold. Fisher's exact test demonstrated good agreement between results of PET and ANECS-Ao measurements (P = 0.002). Maximal HED retention was also significantly correlated with NE release (r = 0.69; P = 0.001). Conclusion: Results of invasively measured NE release and noninvasive 11C-HED PET are well correlated. This study further supports the usefulness of PET as a noninvasive approach for detection of reappearance of catecholamine uptake sites after heart transplantation.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 1011-1016 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Journal of Nuclear Medicine |
Volume | 42 |
Issue number | 7 |
State | Published - 2001 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- C-hydroxy-ephedrine
- Heart transplantation
- Norepinephrine
- PET
- Sympathetic reinnervation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Radiological and Ultrasound Technology