Cardiac Rubidium-82 PET
Myocardial perfusion imaging with Rb-82, a generator-produced positron emitter (parent Sr-82, 25-day half-life in generator). Rest and pharmacologic stress (regadenoson, dipyridamole) acquisitions with quantitative myocardial blood flow and coronary flow reserve. Higher accuracy and lower radiation than SPECT MPI, but limited to centers with PET/CT and Rb-82 generator access.
Clinical pathway
- Rest imaging — 40 mCi Rb-82 IV, 6-minute gated acquisition.
- Pharmacologic stress — regadenoson 0.4 mg IV; peak vasodilation at ~2 min.
- Stress imaging — repeat 40 mCi Rb-82, 6-minute acquisition.
- Quantitative analysis — absolute myocardial blood flow (ml/g/min) and coronary flow reserve.
- Reporting — perfusion defects, transient ischemic dilation, reduced CFR.
Typical systems
Requires Rb-82 generator (Bracco CardioGen-82 or Jubilant) and infusion system on-site.
Room + procedure characteristics
- Total visit: 30–45 min (vs 3+ hours for SPECT MPI)
- Dose: ~3–4 mSv (vs ~10 mSv for Tc-99m sestamibi SPECT)
- Team: nuclear cardiologist or nuclear rad + tech + stress-test RN