BACKGROUND Noninvasive assessment of regional myocardial perfusion at rest and after stress is important for the objective evaluation of the effects of coronary artery disease and its response to therapy. Centers that do not have cyclotrons rely on generator-produced radioisotopes for assessment of regional myocardial perfusion with positron emission tomography (PET). The aim of the present study was to develop and implement an approach to quantify regional myocardial perfusion using copper(II) pyruvaldehyde bis-(N4-thiosemicarbazone) (PTSM) labeled with the generator-produced, positron-emitting radionuclide 62Cu (t1/2 = 9.7 minutes). RESULTS Regional perfusion was estimated from dynamic PET scans after intravenous administration of 62Cu-PTSM in 21 studies in 13 intact dogs evaluated over a wide range of myocardial flow values. In 15 interventions in nine dogs, regional perfusion was also estimated with H2(15)O. Regional perfusion with 62Cu-PTSM was estimated from dynamic blood and tissue time-activity curves, along with the model parameter k1 (forward rate of transport) and the PET parameter FBM (fraction of blood pool activity observed in tissue), using a two-compartment kinetic model. Arterial blood activity was corrected for red blood cell-associated 62Cu. In 44 comparisons, estimates of regional perfusion with 62Cu-PTSM correlated well with estimates obtained with concomitantly administered radiolabeled microspheres (y = 0.90x +/- 0.15, r = 0.95, p < 0.05) over a flow range from 0.23 to 6.14 ml/g per minute. In five healthy human volunteers evaluated at rest with H2(15)O and 62Cu-PTSM, regional perfusion estimated with 62Cu-PTSM was not significantly different from that obtained with H2(15)O (1.05 +/- 0.36 versus 0.96 +/- 0.28 ml/g per minute). 62Cu-PTSM provided high-quality images of the heart. CONCLUSIONS The results of this study demonstrate that quantification of regional myocardial perfusion is feasible using generator-produced 62Cu-PTSM. Since 62Cu-PTSM can be used to estimate perfusion in the brain, kidney, and tumors as well as in the heart, it is an attractive tracer for centers that rely on generator-produced tracers for the evaluation of perfusion with PET.