SPECT vs. xSPECTComparison of Standard SPECT vs xSPECT Reconstruction in the Clinical Management of Patients With Spinal Pain

SPECT-CT is evolving into an integral part of patient management in those having back pain. It can supplement other types of imaging like MRI by providing physiologic information about the type and location of various disease processes. This information can help guide therapy to the most active sites of disease which MRI and CT cannot do as anatomic imaging modalities. The nuclear department has two cameras that are capable of performing SPECT-CT, an Optima manufactured by GE and a Symbia Intevo Bold manufactured by Siemens. The Optima uses the Volumetrix Evolution algorithm to reconstruct SPECT data that does not incorporate the CT data into these reconstructions. The Bold, on the other hand, has a proprietary reconstruction algorithm called xSPECT which does use the CT data to extract a zone map to better delineate tissue boundaries. In this study, the investigators hope to compare images using the standard and proprietary algorithms to determine if these provide equal or different levels of image interpretation confidence by the reader as well as changes in clinical management.