New Method of Estimating Myocardial Infarct Size Using Technetium-99m Pyrophosphate and Thallium-201 Dual Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography Imaging

A new method was devised to estimate infarct size using dual single photon emission computed tomography with thallium-201 and technetium-99m pyrophosphate. Designating the ratio of infarct area to whole myocardial volume as %MI, the correlation of %MI with other markers of left ventricular dysfunction was examined: peak creatine kinase, ejection fraction and left ventricular asynergy. As %MI correlated well with these markers, it is considered that %MI will be useful for estimating infarct size and predicting the severity of left ventricular dysfunction in the early stage of acute myocardial infarction. (Jpn Circ J 1999; 63: 155 -159)