Impact of Appropriate Use on the Estimated Radiation Risk to Men and Women Undergoing Radionuclide Myocardial Perfusion Imaging.

Unlabelled: The impact of appropriate use criteria (AUC) for myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) with SPECT on the estimated lifetime attributable risk (LAR) of cancer is unknown.

Methods: A cohort of 1,511 consecutive patients who underwent clinically indicated (99m)Tc-setamibi MPI were categorized into appropriate/uncertain (n = 823) versus inappropriate (n = 688) use groups according to the 2009 AUC and were prospectively followed for 27 ± 10 mo. Logistic regression models were used to determine the annualized probability of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) of cardiac death or myocardial infarction and the probability of revascularization within 6 mo of MPI, accounting for relevant covariates.