Background: The pathophysiology of symptoms and reduced exercise capacity from peripheral artery disease (PAD) remains unclear. Additionally, there is limited information on blood flow and skeletal muscle energetics after walking exercise in patients with claudication in comparison to healthy individuals.
Methods: We prospectively enrolled 19 patients with claudication from PAD and 12 healthy subjects. All participants underwent rest and post-exercise perfusion imaging of the lower leg muscles via PET/CT. Participants exercised on a treadmill following the Gardner-Skinner protocol. Skeletal muscle blood flow (SMBF) was quantified in each leg at rest and immediately after exercise. Phosphocreatine (PCr) recovery and NAD+/NADH concentrations were measured pre- and post-exercise by 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in a subset of participants. Comparisons were made between the legs of healthy subjects and the asymptomatic and symptomatic legs of patients with PAD.
Results: SMBF increased post-exercise in all participants. Among patients with PAD, the post-exercise/rest SMBF ratio, was higher in the symptomatic (n = 25) than asymptomatic (n = 13) legs (8.03 ± 2.84 vs 6.03 ± 2.81, P = 0.046) and higher than the post-exercise/rest SMBF ratio measured in the legs of healthy subjects (4.40 ± 1.47, P < 0.001). The post-exercise/rest PCr and NAD+/NADH ratios were lower in the legs of patients with PAD (n = 3) when compared with the legs of healthy subjects (n = 6) (0.79 ± 0.06 vs 1.00 ± 0.07 (P = 0.004) and 1.15 ± 0.43 vs 2.08 ± 0.30 (P = 0.007), respectively).
Conclusions: SMBF increased post-exercise to the greatest degree in the symptomatic legs of patients with PAD and post-exercise skeletal muscle mitochondrial function was abnormal in patients with PAD. These data suggest that the causes of symptoms and reduced exercise capacity from PAD are not limited to abnormal perfusion pressure in the legs.
Background: Amyloidosis is a multisystem disease characterized by the deposition of amyloid fibrils, leading to organ dysfunction. When cardiac amyloidosis is suspected, it is essential to screen for light chain amyloidosis (AL) and transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR), the two most common subtypes.
Case presentation: We report a patient with advanced heart failure and mild kidney dysfunction as initial symptoms. Preliminary testing revealed a slightly abnormal light chain ratio and a strong positive Tc-99 m pyrophosphate (PYP) scan. Biopsies of the heart, bone marrow, and kidney confirmed amyloidosis. Further immunofluorescence and mass spectrometry analysis identified immunoglobulin G and lambda light chain deposits. The patient was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and heavy and light chain amyloidosis (AHL) and initiated treatment with cyclophosphamide, bortezomib, and dexamethasone, rather than tafamidis, an oral transthyretin kinetic stabilizer used for ATTR.
Conclusions: AHL amyloidosis is a rare subtype. This case demonstrates that a positive PYP scan, even with intense uptake, is not entirely specific for ATTR. Tissue confirmation is essential for a definitive diagnosis, particularly when light chain disease or other rare forms are suspected, because AL/AHL and ATTR have distinct treatments and prognoses and may coexist.
Background: This large-scale study analyzes factors affecting the diagnostic accuracy of low-dose myocardial perfusion imaging and correlation with coronary angiography in a real-world practice.
Methods: We compared data extracted from routine reports of (i) low-dose [99mTc]sestamibi stress-MPI performed with no attenuation correction and predominantly exercise stress testing and (ii) the corresponding coronary angiography.
Results: We considered 1070 pairs of coronary angiography/stress-MPI results reported by 11 physicians. Mean MPI effective dose was 4.5 ± 2.1 mSv. The extent of MPI-ischemia was predictive of >70% but not 50%-70% coronary stenoses. A positive test was associated with a sensitivity of 74.7% (413/553) and a specificity of 53.2% (275/517) for >70% stenosis detection. Positive predictive values were lower in patients with left bundle branch block or pacemakers (LBBB/PM) (45.6% vs 64.7%, P = .006) and markedly higher for patients with MPI-ischemia ≥3 segments or associated with ST-segment depression (75.0% (165/220)) as compared to those with <3 segments MPI-ischemia, MPI-infarction or isolated ST-segment depression (57% (248.0/435), P < .001). Negative predictive values were lower for patients with previous coronary artery disease (CAD) history (58.3%), male (61.0%), and elderly patients (59.6%) (vs 72.1%, 79.2%, and 72.4%, respectively, all P < .05).
Conclusions: Routine results from low-dose stress-MPI, predominantly associated with exercise stress testing and uncorrected for attenuation, correlate with real-world coronary angiography results. However, this correlation is lower than that achieved with conventional study designs and affected by the definition of significant CAD and context variables (LBBB/PM, CAD history, sex, and age). Better consideration of these interacting factors could improve patient monitoring.