Intravenous regular insulin is an efficient and safe procedure for obtaining high-quality cardiac 18F-FDG PET images: an open-label, single-center, randomized controlled prospective trial

• DOI: 10.1007/s12350-020-02219-9
• Publication Date: 2020-06-12T18:02:33Z
• Authors: Yang Chun Chen; Qing Qing Wang; Yue Hui Wang; Hui Lin Zhuo; Ruo Zhu Dai
• Keywords: Single Center

An open-label, single-center, randomized controlled prospective trial was performed to assess the efficiency and safety of an insulin loading procedure to obtain high-quality cardiac 18F-FDG PET/CT images for patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).Between November 22, 2018 and August 15, 2019, 60 patients with CAD scheduled for cardiac 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging in our department were randomly allocated in a 1:1 ratio to receive an insulin or standardized glucose loading procedure for cardiac 18F-FDG imaging. The primary outcome was the ratio of interpretable images (high-quality images defined as myocardium-to-liver ratios ≥ 1). The secondary outcome was the patient preparation time (time interval between administration of insulin/glucose and 18F-FDG injection). Hypoglycemia events were recorded.The ratio of interpretable cardiac PET images in the insulin loading group surpassed the glucose loading group (30/30 vs. 25/30, P = 0.026). Preparation time was 71±2 min shorter for the insulin loading group than for the glucose loading group (P < 0.01). Two and six hypoglycemia cases occurred in the insulin and glucose loading groups, respectively.The insulin loading protocol was a quicker, more efficient, and safer preparation for gaining high-quality cardiac 18F-FDG images.