Quantitative SPECT/CT parameters of myocardial (99m)Technetium-3,3-diphosphono-1,2-propanodicarboxylic acid (DPD) uptake in suspected cardiac transthyretin amyloidosis

BACKGROUND: (99m)Tc-labelled bisphosphonates are used for imaging assessment of patients with transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis (ATTR). Present study evaluates whether quantitative SPECT/CT measurement of absolute myocardial (99m)Tc-labelled 3,3-diphosphono-1,2-propanodicarboxylic acid (Tc-DPD) uptake can diagnose patients with suspected ATTR. METHODS: Twenty-eight patients (25 male, age 80.03 ± 6.99 years) with suspected ATTR referred for Tc-DPD imaging had planar and SPECT/CT imaging of the chest. Three operators independently obtained Tc-DPD myocardial SUVmax and SUVmean above threshold (SMaT) (20, 40 and 60% of SUVmax), using a semi-automated threshold segmentation method. Results were compared to visual grading (0–3) of cardiac uptake. RESULTS: Twenty-two patients (78%) had cardiac uptake (2 grade 1, 15 grade 2, 5 grade 3). SUVmax and SMaT segmentation thresholds enabled separating grades 2/3 from 0/1 with excellent inter- and intra-reader correlation. Cut-off values 6.0, 2.5, 3 and 4 for SUVmax, SMaT(20,40,60,) respectively, separated between grades 2/3 and 0 /1 with PPV and NPV of 100%. SMaT(20,40,60)(cardiac)/SUVmean (liver) and SMaT(20,40,60)(cardiac)/SUV(mean)(liver/lung) separated grades 2 and 3. CONCLUSION: Quantitative SPECT/CT parameters of cardiac Tc-DPD uptake are robust, enabling separation of patients with grades 2 and 3 cardiac uptake from grades 0 and 1. Larger patient cohorts will determine the incremental value of SPECT/CT quantification for ATTR management.