Left ventricular functional analysis with 16- and 64-row multidetector computed tomography: comparison with gated single-photon emission computed tomography.

Objective: To compare the left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF), end-diastolic volume (EDV), and end-systolic volume (ESV) from electrocardiogram-gated computed tomography (CT) to gated single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT).

Methods: Fifty-seven patients underwent electrocardiogram-gated multidetector CT and SPECT examinations within a 3-month period, without interim cardiac events. The LV EF, EDV, and ESV were compared.

Results: There was an excellent correlation between LV EF obtained from CT (60.25% +/- 12.93%) and SPECT (61.90% +/- 14.93%) (r = 0.81), with no significant difference (P = 0.17). Computed tomography-derived EDV and ESV correlated well with SPECT (r = 0.88 and 0.94, respectively). The EDV from SPECT (132.21 +/- 67.10 mL) was significantly lower than that from CT (147.53 +/- 55.03 mL; P = 0.0007); there was a trend for ESV from SPECT (58.39 +/- 61.20 mL) to be lower than that from CT (63.79 +/- 53.58 mL; P = 0.055). The EF, EDV, and ESV correlation of SPECT with the 64-row multidetector CT was better (r = 0.87, 0.89, and 0.96, respectively) than that with the 16-row CT (r = 0.36, 0.66, and 0.49, respectively).

Conclusions: There is a good correlation between LV EF, EDV, and ESV from gated SPECT and CT (particularly the 64-row CT). The LV volumes are lower on SPECT than on CT.