As a result, patients have been transferred to other modalities, such as SPECT imaging, even though PET offers the preferred "first-line" myocardial perfusion test for certain patient populations, such as the obese, according to SNM.

It also might have had an effect on equipment purchases.

"Prices on used cardiac PET scanners have slid in recent months due to the fact that no new cardiac sites were being built unless you had a cyclotron in your backyard," Josh Nunez wrote Wednesday on the blog of Block Imaging, a medical equipment dealer. "We've seen systems that were selling for around $500,000 slide to around $400,000."

However, Nunez noted that prices are expected to climb back up -- now that CardioGen is likely coming back.

But exactly when that happens, no one's really sure. Di Carli said work is still ongoing to really understand if there's a widespread manufacturing problem or, as seems more likely, just user error. In a week or two, his hospital will invite patients that had the CardioGen scans back for testing, in line with other groups participating in Bracco and the FDA's clinical review.

"It's reasonable to think that these were isolated incidents that were related to essentially human error, not following proper practice," Di Carli said. "But what is unclear is what the FDA will say."



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