Evaluation of right ventricular regional perfusion with technetium-99m-sestamibi SPECT.
To evaluate technetium-99m-sestamibi as a right ventricular perfusion imaging agent, 25 normal volunteers and 25 patients with suspected coronary disease were studied with both sestamibi and thallium-201 SPECT. All patients underwent cardiac characterization. Compared to thallium-201 images, visualization of the right ventricle was superior for sestamibi in all cases. After computer masking of the left ventricle, count profiles for each 6-mm right ventricular short-axis slice were extracted and plotted in a bull's-eye type polar map with images normalized to maximal right ventricular counts. On sestamibi right ventricular polar maps, 7 of 11 patients (64%) with right coronary stenosis had fixed or reversible inferior right ventricular defects. None of the 25 volunteers or patients without right coronary stenosis had right ventricular defects (true-negative rate = 100%). We conclude that sestamibi SPECT provides an accurate means to assess right ventricular regional perfusion, with data presentation and interpretation facilitated by the polar map display.
DePuey
E G
EG
Department of Radiology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia.
Jones
M E
ME
Garcia
E V
EV
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003326:Coronary Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D017256:Technetium Tc 99m Sestamibi; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon; D015646:Ventriculography, First-Pass
D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D017256:Technetium Tc 99m Sestamibi