Intravenous insulin injection supplemented with subsequent milk consumption is a safer formulation for cardiac viability F-FDG imaging.

Background: The safety and efficacy of intravenous insulin injection coupled with subsequent milk consumption was evaluated for high-quality cardiac viability F-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (F-FDG) images.

Methods And Results: A total of 328 patients with known/suspected coronary artery disease received intravenous insulin injection with or without subsequent milk consumption for cardiac F-FDG imaging. When blood glucose levels had decreased by ≥ 20%, F-FDG was injected. Patients were scored for hypoglycemic symptoms using a 10-point scale (discomfort: 0, none; 1 to 3, mild; 4 to 6, moderate; 7 to 9, severe). An insulin-related hypoglycemic event was defined as an increased symptomatic score following insulin injection. The number of hypoglycemic events was significantly lower in the milk consumption group than in the group that did not (24/164 vs. 51/164, P < .01). Maximal and averaged standardized uptake value of the left ventricular myocardium (MyoSUVmax and MyoSUVmean) were also measured. The milk and control groups had similar mean hypoglycemic symptom scores (4.2 ± 4.0 vs. 3.3 ± 3.1, respectively), MyoSUVmax, and MyoSUVmean (11.1 ± 4.8, 7.3 ± 3.2 vs. 11.4 ± 4.5, 7.4 ± 3.2, respectively).

Conclusion: Intravenous insulin injection supplemented with subsequent milk consumption is a safer formulation for cardiac viability F-FDG imaging without impairing image quality.