The European procedural guidelines for radionuclide imaging of myocardial perfusion and viability are presented in 13 sections covering patient information, radiopharmaceuticals, injected activities and dosimetry, stress tests, imaging protocols and acquisition, quality control and reconstruction methods, gated studies and attenuation-scatter compensation, data analysis, reports and image display, and positron emission tomography. If the specific recommendations given could not be based on evidence from original, scientific studies, we tried to express this state-of-art. The guidelines are designed to assist in the practice of performing, interpreting and reporting myocardial perfusion SPET. The guidelines do not discuss clinical indications, benefits or drawbacks of radionuclide myocardial imaging compared to non-nuclear techniques, nor do they cover cost benefit or cost effectiveness.

For straightforward implementation of semi-quantitative (123)I-MIBG myocardial studies, we recommend the use of ME collimators without scatter correction.

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This is the first article of a four-part series on gerontology and its applications to the care of elderly patients in nuclear medicine. The series includes discussions about the theories of aging, approaches to meeting the special needs of the elderly and ethical dilemmas in caring for the elderly. It also reviews anatomical and physiological changes associated with aging and the role of nuclear medicine studies in caring for the elderly. Upon completion of this article, the reader should be able to: (a) describe the aging U.S. population by citing demographic data; (b) identify the theories of aging and distinguish their major characteristics; (c) differentiate a gerontologic approach from a geriatric approach in caring for the elderly; and (d) recognize factors important to the delivery of effective care for the elderly.