Journal of nuclear medicine : official publication, Society of Nuclear Medicine
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Comparative Study
Quantification of regional ventilation-perfusion ratios with PET.
The topographic matching of alveolar ventilation (V(A)) and perfusion (Q) is the main determinant of gas exchange efficiency of the lung. However, no pulmonary functional imaging technique has been shown to predict whole-lung gas exchange in health and disease. This study aims to present a PET-based method to estimate regional alveolar ventilation-to-perfusion ratios (V(A)/Q) predictive of arterial blood gases. ⋯ Tracer kinetics analysis of PET images after an intravenous injection of (13)NN provides a quantitative assessment of regional V(A)/Q heterogeneity including that corresponding to length scales smaller than the spatial resolution of the imaging method. Quantification of V(A)/Q mismatch obtained with the presented technique is directly related to severity of gas exchange impairment as determined by arterial blood gases.