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. 2014 Apr 2;16(6):415. doi: 10.1007/s11883-014-0415-3

Table 2.

Non-invasive imaging modalities for the study of subclinical coronary artery disease in patients with peripheral artery disease

Imaging modality Advantages Drawbacks
Coronary artery calcium score

Low price

High availability

Does not visualize non-calcified plaques

Low specificity in patients with PAD

Coronary angiography by CT

High sensitivity for stenotic plaque

Can image plaque morphology

High availability

Ionizing radiation

Plaque imaging technically challenging

Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging

Can image plaque morphology

High spatial resolution

Technically very challenging

Limited availability and high cost

Stress echocardiography High availability

Does not visualize plaques

Operator-dependent

MPI with SPECT

Prognostic information

Low spatial resolution

Does not image plaque

Ionizing radiation

MPI with PET

Image stress induced ischemia

Limited spatial resolution

Does not visualize plaques

High cost and low availability

Ionizing radiation

FDG-PET/cardiac CT Combined anatomical and metabolic imaging

High cost and limited availability

Ionizing radiation

MPI PET/cardiac CT Combined anatomical and ischemia imaging

High cost and low availability

Ionizing radiation

Specific PET plaque tracer/cardiac CT Potentially specific identification of vulnerable plaque

Method still at the experimental level

Ionizing radiation

MPI=myocardial perfusion imaging, PAD=peripheral artery disease, PET=positron emission tomography, SPECT=single photon emission computed tomography