Dr. Shu Yokota has defended his PhD thesis titled ‘Normal myocardial perfusion imaging with SPECT in patients with coronary artery disease’ on Sept 16, 2020 at the Radboud University of Nijmegen.
Dr. Yokota has studied the non-invasive diagnostic method SPECT (single photon emission tomography). SPECT is the most widely available non-invasive diagnostic method to detect myocardial ischemia.
Normal perfusion on a SPECT scan is generally associated with a good prognosis for the patient with chest complaints. However, in some patients, the SPECT scan provides normal results even though the patient has persistent or worsening complaints.
Therefore, in this thesis, the possible reasons for false-negative testing are investigated. The results of invasive diagnostic procedures are studied for these patients with stable angina complaints, despite a normal SPECT scan; in order to improve understanding of this group of patients, as well as to identify potential improvements and alternatives for diagnosing these patients.
Dr. Yokota’s research was supervised by promotor Prof. M.J. de Boer and copromotors Dr. J.P. Ottervanger and Dr. M. Mouden of the Isala Hospital (Zwolle, the Netherlands).