Regional and Global Left Ventricular Mechanical Dyssynchrony in the Diagnosis of Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease on Rest and Regadenoson Stress Rubidium Myocardial Perfusion PET

Rubidium myocardial perfusion PET is an imaging test used to diagnose patients with abnormal blood flow to the heart secondary to narrowing of the heart vessels. Phase analysis is a computer method that is applied after the PET test is done. It is used to determine when a region of the heart contracts relative to other heart regions in the heart beating cycle. Initial data suggest that regions of the heart with abnormal blood flow change the pattern of contraction from rest to stress conditions. That is, regions of the heart with abnormal blood supply become dyssynchronous when compared to the normal regions of the heart. This study will investigate whether phase analysis may aid the visual interpretation of rubidium myocardial perfusion PET studies by determining the areas of the heart that are not beating in synchrony with the normal heart regions. This information will be used as a proxy for poor blood supply. The gold standard will be coronary angiography by which the percent narrowing of the heart vessels is assessed.