Gated thallium scintigraphy in patients with coronary artery disease: an improved planar imaging technique.

Abstract

The use of thallium scanning in the assessment of myocardial perfusion is well established. However, myocardial contraction leads to significant blurring of standard static images. By using electrocardiographic gating and a high sensitivity collimator, multiple view gated scans can be acquired prior to thallium redistribution. Reporting of these images on cine loop display in 100 consecutive patients undergoing coronary arteriography and 14 volunteers results in improved visual assessment of regional myocardial perfusion (with reduced interobserver variability) and, in addition, yields useful and accurate information on left ventricular function. The combination of better assessment of perfusion and information on wall motion results in improved detection of patients with significant coronary disease with no loss of specificity when compared with static images. Predictive accuracy improves from 85% to 94% with gated imaging. Gated thallium scanning could be readily applied in most centres using thallium at no extra cost and with improved predictive accuracy in the non-invasive detection of significant coronary disease.

• Authors: W Martin, A C Tweddel, A I McGhie, I Hutton
• Journal: Clinical physics and physiological measurement : an official journal of the Hospital Physicists' Association, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Medizinische Physik and the European Federation of Organisations for Medical Physics (Clin Phys Physiol Meas) Vol. 8 Issue 4 Pg. 343-54 (Nov 1987) ISSN: 0143-0815 [Print] England
• PMID: 3427875 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Thallium Radioisotopes

Topics

• Coronary Disease (diagnostic imaging, physiopathology)
• Coronary Vessels (diagnostic imaging)
• Heart Ventricles (physiopathology)
• Humans
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Radionuclide Imaging
• Thallium Radioisotopes