Jaber Bahariyan. - MSc of radiation technology, Afshar Hospital, Yazd, Iran

Background and objectives: Sub-diaphragmatic activity and artifacts are common in myocardial perfusion imaging, especially in the rest protocol phase. In this study, the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and frequency of artifacts in this modality was investigated.Patients and methods: Data and images (MPI-rest phase) from 178 heart patients was collected. These patients included 89 women and 89 men who were randomly selected. After receiving the code of ethics, height, weight and body mass index of them were measured. Also, the number and type of artifacts in their scans (scatter artifact, overlap artifact) were recorded. Statistical analysis was performed in one-way ANOVA and Pearson & Spearman s complementary tests in SPSS 16.0 software.Results: There was a positive and significant correlation (Pearson correlation = 0.354) between the frequency of Overlap artifact and BMI (P <0.05). also There was a positive correlation (Pearson correlation=0.242) and significant difference between scatter artifact and body mass index (P <0.05). There was no significant relationship between age and artifacts.Conclusion: There is a positive correlation between the body mass index and the frequency of artifacts in the resting phase of myocardial perfusion imaging. There is no relationship between the age and frequency of artifacts present in this scans.

Myocardial perfusion imaging, Body mass index, Artifact