Journal Article

Prognostic Value of Cadmium-Zinc-Telluride Dedicated Cardiac SPECT Dynamic Myocardial Perfusion Quantitative Imaging in Patients with Coronary Chronic Total Occlusion: A Pilot Study

Li, Linlin, Xu, Wengui, Pang, Zekun, Li, Jianming

2026

Overview

Background: The prevalence of chronic total occlusion (CTO) lesions is as high as 30% in patients undergoing coronary angiography (CAG). Some CTO patients do not undergo revascularization due to procedural complexity and high risks. This study aimed to investigate the value of cadmium-zinc-telluride (CZT) SPECT dynamic myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) for risk stratification and prognosis assessment in patients with coronary CTO. Methods: This study retrospectively included 62 patients who underwent CZT SPECT dynamic MPI examination and were diagnosed with CTO by angiography. The primary endpoint was major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs), defined as cardiovascular death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, non-fatal stroke, hospitalization for heart failure, late coronary revascularization, or hospitalization for unstable angina. Results: Over a median follow-up of 17 months (IQR 11–23), 15 MACEs occurred. The stress myocardial blood flow (sMBF) and coronary flow reserve (CFR) in the CTO territory were significantly lower in the MACEs group compared to the non-MACEs group (all p < 0.05). Receiver operating characteristic analysis determined the optimal cut-off values for predicting MACEs as sMBF < 0.75 (sensitivity 78.7%, specificity 73.3%, AUC = 0.74, p < 0.05) and CFR < 1.39 (sensitivity 70.2%, specificity 80.0%, AUC = 0.75, p < 0.01). Kaplan–Meier survival analysis showed that patients with impaired sMBF (p < 0.001) or impaired CFR (p < 0.01), defined by these cut-off values, had significantly worse clinical outcomes. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that sMBF and CFR obtained from CZT SPECT dynamic MPI provide valuable prognostic prediction for patients with coronary CTO lesions, offering critical evidence for identifying high-risk patients requiring active intervention.

• Publisher: MDPI AG,Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
• Subject: Adenosine / Cadmium / cadmium-zinc-telluride / Cardiac patients / Cardiology / Care and treatment / chronic total occlusion / Coronary artery bypass / Coronary vessels / Health aspects / Heart attack / Heart attacks / Heart failure / Medical research / Medicine, Experimental / myocardial blood flow quantification / Patients / prognostic value / risk stratification / Software / SPECT imaging / Work stations