Abstract
BACKGROUND: The purpose of this work was to determine the optimal tracer kinetic model of (11)C-PIB and to validate the use of the simplified methods retention index (RI) and standardized uptake value (SUV) for quantification of cardiac (11)C-PIB uptake in amyloidosis. METHODS AND RESULTS: Single-tissue, reversible and irreversible two-tissue models were fitted to data from seven cardiac amyloidosis patients who underwent (11)C-PIB PET scans and arterial blood sampling for measurement of blood radioactivity and metabolites. The irreversible two-tissue model (2Tirr) best described cardiac (11)C-PIB uptake. RI and SUV showed high correlation with the rate of irreversible binding (K(i)) from the 2Tirr model (r(2 )=0.95 and r(2 )=0.94). Retrospective data from 10 amyloidosis patients and 5 healthy controls were analyzed using RI, SUV, as well as compartment modelling with a population-average metabolite correction. All measures were higher in amyloidosis patients than in healthy controls (p=.001), but with an overlap between groups for K(i). CONCLUSION: An irreversible two-tissue model best describes the (11)C-PIB uptake in cardiac amyloidosis. RI and SUV correlate well with K(i) from the 2Tirr model. RI and SUV discriminate better between amyloidosis patients and controls than K(i) based on population-average metabolite correction.