Background. An open-label, single-center, randomized controlled prospective trial was performed to assess the efficiency and safety of an insulin loading procedure to obtain highquality cardiac 18 F-FDG PET/CT images for patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).Methods. Between November 22, 2018 and August 15, 2019, 60 patients with CAD scheduled for cardiac 18 F-FDG PET/CT imaging in our department were randomly allocated in a 1:1 ratio to receive an insulin or standardized glucose loading procedure for cardiac 18 F-FDG imaging. The primary outcome was the ratio of interpretable images (high-quality images defined as myocardium-to-liver ratios ‡ 1). The secondary outcome was the patient preparation time (time interval between administration of insulin/glucose and 18 F-FDG injection). Hypoglycemia events were recorded.Results. The ratio of interpretable cardiac PET images in the insulin loading group surpassed the glucose loading group (30/30 vs. 25/30, P = 0.026). Preparation time was 71±2 min shorter for the insulin loading group than for the glucose loading group (P < 0.01). Two and six hypoglycemia cases occurred in the insulin and glucose loading groups, respectively.Conclusion. The insulin loading protocol was a quicker, more efficient, and safer preparation for gaining high-quality cardiac 18 F-FDG images. (J Nucl Cardiol 2020
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