2018 Volume 4 Issue 1 Pages 42-45
The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (JMHLW) approved 13N-ammonia (13N-NH3) for detecting coronary artery disease (CAD) and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) for cardiac sarcoidosis in 2012. These 2012 PET approvals shifted cardiac PET from research PET to clinical PET in Japan. Since the 2012 approvals, the nuclear cardiology community has realized the challenges of applying 13N-NH3 PET in clinical practice given the limited reimbursement through the health insurance system. Similar to the case with cardiac sarcoidosis, Japanese cardiologists have put great effort into treating patients with great arteritis such as Takayasu arteritis and have also shown the diagnostic utility of 18F-FDG PET/CT. Considering these issues, the Japanese Society of Nuclear Medicine (JSNM) and Japanese Circulation Society (JCS) worked together with JMHLW to update health insurance policy regarding PET. In addition, physiology-based coronary intervention has played an important role in the management of patients with CAD. Based on these recent developments and discussions with major societies, JMHLW released its updated reimbursement policy on March 5, 2018. This rapid communication will address the key issues of this policy update related to cardiovascular PET and coronary intervention.
