Relationship Between Regional Myocardial Oxygenation and Perfusion in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease

Background— It is recognized that the interplay between myocardial ischemia, perfusion, and oxygenation in the setting of coronary artery disease (CAD) is complex and that myocardial oxygenation and perfusion may become dissociated. Blood oxygen level–dependent (BOLD) cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) has the potential to noninvasively measure myocardial oxygenation, whereas positron emission tomography (PET) with oxygen-15 labeled water is the gold standard technique for myocardial blood flow quantification. Thus, we sought to apply BOLD CMR at 3 T and oxygen-15–labeled water PET in patients with CAD and normal volunteers to better understand the relationship between regional myocardial oxygenation and blood flow during vasodilator stress. Methods and Results— Twenty-two patients (age, 62�8 years; 16 men) with CAD (at least 1 stenosis ≥50% on quantitative coronary angiography) and 10 normal volunteers (age, 58�6 years; 6 men) underwent 3-T BOLD CMR and PET. For BOLD CMR, 4 to 6 midventricular short...