Background: The equilibrium radionuclide angiocardiography (ERNA) scan is an established imaging modality for assessing left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in oncology patients. This study aimed to explore the interchangeability of two commercially available software packages (MIM and JS) for LVEF measurement for a cancer-therapy-related cardiac dysfunction (CTRCD) diagnosis.
Methods: This is a single-center retrospective study among 322 patients who underwent ERNA scans. A total of 582 scans were re-processed using MIM and JS for cross-sectional and longitudinal LVEF measurements.
Results: The median LVEF for MIM and JS were 56% and 66%, respectively (P < 0.001). LVEF processed by JS was 9.91% higher than by MIM. In 87 patients with longitudinal ERNA scans, serial studies processed by MIM were classified as having CTRCD in a higher proportion than serial studies processed by JS (26.4% vs 11.4%, P = 0.020). There were no significant differences in intra- or inter-observer LVEF measurement variability (R = 0.99, P < 0.001).
Conclusions: Software packages for processing ERNA studies are not interchangeable; thus, reports of ERNA studies should include details on the post-processing software. Serial ERNA studies should be processed on the same software when feasible to avoid discrepancies in the diagnosis and management of CTRCD.
Keywords: Cancer therapy-related cardiac dysfunction; Cardiac imaging; Cardio-oncology; Cardiotoxicity; Equilibrium radionuclide angiocardiography; Multigated radionuclide imaging.
Copyright © 2023 American Society of Nuclear Cardiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.