The international journal of cardiovascular imaging
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Int J Cardiovasc Imaging · Apr 2010
Impact of preoperative positron emission tomography in patients with severely impaired LV-function undergoing surgical revascularization.
In patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) offers an important therapeutic option but is still associated with high perioperative mortality. Although previous studies suggest a benefit from revascularization for patients with defined viability by a non-invasive technique, the role of viability assessment to determine suitability for revascularization in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy has not yet been defined. This study evaluates the hypothesis that the use of PET imaging in the decision-making process for CABG will improve postoperative patient survival. ⋯ The survival rate after 1, 5 and 9.3 years was 92.0, 73.3 and 54.2% in the PET-CABG and 88.9, 62.2 and 35.5% in the Standard Care Group, respectively (P = 0.005). Cox-regression analysis revealed a significant influence on long-term survival of patient selection by viability assessment via PET (P = 0.008), of LV-function (P = 0.017), and age >70 (P = 0.016). Preoperative assessment of myocardial viability via PET identifies patients, who will benefit most from CABG.