Cor Vasa 2005, 46(4)

Nuclear cardiology in the Czech Republic in 2003: a substantial increase in utilization of myocardial perfusion SPECT imaging.

Milan Kamínek^1,*, Miroslav Mysliveček¹, Václav Hušák¹, Otto Lang², Antonín Fikrle³

¹ Klinika nukleární medicíny, Fakultní nemocnice Olomouc a Lékařská fakulta Univerzity Palackého, Olomouc

² Klinika nukleární medicíny, Fakultní nemocnice Královské Vinohrady a 3. lékařská fakulta Univerzity Karlovy, Praha

³ Klinika nukleární medicíny, Fakultní nemocnice Plzeň, Plzeň, Česká republika

To review the evolution of nuclear cardiology in the Czech Republic since the first survey in 2001, a questionnaire concerning nuclear practice in 2003 was sent to all nuclear medicine departments. Of the 46 centers, 39 provided nuclear cardiology service. The total number of cardiological studies was 19,261 in 2003 (i. e., 1.9 studies/1,000 pop.). Myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) studies accounted for 91.3% of total nuclear cardiology examinations. In 2001-2003, the utilization rate of MPI increased annually by 10%, 13% and 21%, respectively. Twenty-six departments (67%) reported that the number of MPI had increased. However, despite recent increases, the Czech Republic is still lagging behind European standards in terms of its throughput; a further increase in MPI activity is necessary to adequately meet the needs of cardiac patients. The utilization of gated SPECT method showed a very positive trend; whereas only 39% of all MPI studies were performed using ECG-gating in 2001, there was an increase to 61% in 2003. Twenty-five departments reported they were able to use nuclear cardiology quantitative software (including normal database).

Keywords: Nuclear cardiology; Myocardial perfusion imaging; SPECT; Questionnaire-based survey; Czech Republic

Published: April 1, 2005  Show citation