Article

OBJECTIVE: To establish whether muscle blood flow (MBF) measurements with O-water
positron emission tomography could reliably identify patients with critical limb
ischemia and detect and quantify a distal deficit in skeletal
MBF in these cases.
DESIGN: O-water positron emission tomography scans were performed at rest or
during unloaded ankle plantar and dorsiflexion exercise of the diseased leg in 17
subjects with leg ischemia or on a randomly selected leg of 18 age-matched
healthy control subjects. TcPO2 was evaluated with Novametrix monitors and
perfusion of skin topically heated to 44 degrees C and adjacent nonheated areas
with a Moor Instruments laser Doppler imaging scanner. RESULTS: The enhancement
of MBF induced by exercise was significantly lower in ischemic than in normal
legs, and the sensitivity and specificity of this phenomenon were similar to
those of laser Doppler imaging or TcPO2 in identifying ischemia subjects. In
addition, the exercise MBF deficit was predominant at the distal-leg levels,
indicating the ability of the technique to help determine the correct level of
amputation. CONCLUSIONS: Skeletal MBF of legs with severe ischemia can be
detected accurately with O-water positron emission tomography and could add
valuable information about viability of skeletal muscle in the residual limb when
deciding the level of an amputation.

Langue : ANGLAIS