Perfusion debate

Perfusion debate.

Stirrup and Underwood make their argument for SPECT imaging from the perspective of ‘‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’’ They acknowledge the historic value of myocardial perfusion SPECT, as well as the limitations of SPECT technology. Their comments only partially reflect the societal yearning for more precise answers about the presence, extent, and prognosis of patients with coronary artery d...

Myocardial perfusion SPECT: Perfusion quantification

Different software tools for quantification of myocardial perfusion SPECT (MPS) studies are routinely used. Several perfusion parameters can be computed automatically.  Interpretation of the MPS should start with visual inspection of the rotating planar images, visual analysis of reconstructed SPECT slices and then quantitative analysis to confirm the visual impression. Quantification should be...

Debate Debate

Geocomputation is an emerging field of research that advocates the use of computationally intensive techniques such as neural networks, heuristic search, and cellular automata for spatial data analysis. Since increasing amounts of health-related data are collected within a geographical frame of reference, geocomputational methods show increasing potential for health data analysis. This paper pr...

Optimal Perfusion Flow Rate Debate: “The patient does need that much flow

One of the primary objectives of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is to provide sufficient perfusion flow to meet the metabolic demand of vital organs and tissues. Unfortunately, defining sufficient perfusion flow has been particularly challenging since traditional adequacy of perfusion monitoring have proven inadequate. Clinical teams often reference measured flow rates from healthy, unanesthetize...

Inaugural Debate Section - Debate Editor's Note