Critical review-current status of T1-201 myocardial scintigraphy in patients with ischemic heart disease.
Thallium-201 myocardial scintigraphy (TMS) is the most important, accurate and noninvasive diagnostic tool for the detection of regional myocardial perfusion. This agent is a potassium analog and the biological half life in normal myocardium is 4 hours. Therefore, serial imaging after a single dose of T1-201 at the peak of the exercise makes differential diagnosis possible between stress induced ischemia (transient perfusion defect with redistribution) and myocardial fibrosis or scar (permanent defect). The reproducibility is around 90%. The overall sensitivity in 4,094 patients reviewed from the literature was 83% with a specificity of 87%. The accuracy of TMS for the diagnosis of ischemic heart disease was 85%. Sensitivity increases in the order of visual (83%), computer analysis of standard scintigraphy (91%), and computer analysis of pinhole tomography (96%), but there is no significant difference in specificity among them. Also, sensitivity increases in the order of single (73%), double (83%) and triple (90%) vessel disease. However, TMS does not indicate the correct number of vessels involved. In this paper, we discuss the current status of use and limitations of TMS in the diagnosis of ischemic heart disease.
D000818:Animals; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D006041:Goats; D006321:Heart / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010477:Perfusion; D005082:Physical Exertion; D011868:Radioisotopes; D051381:Rats; D013793:Thallium; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed
D011868:Radioisotopes; D013793:Thallium