Objective: To evaluate the degree of pulmonary hypertension in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) by using radionuclide pulmonary perfusion imaging.
Method: The pulmonary perfusion in 81 patients with left to right cardiac shunts was examined by scintigram with macroaggregates of (99m)Tc-labeled human serum albumin (PPS). PPS was analyzed for (1) lung regional radionuclide count (LRC), (2) right upper and lower lung count ratio (RULR), (3) kidney count ratio (KCR). The results were compared with those of cardiac catheterization exam.
Result: There were correlation between mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP), total pulmonary resistance (TPR), and PPS (KCR, RULR with mPAP gamma = 0.25, 0.35; LRC, KCR with TPR gamma = -0.34, 0.29). Five patients repeated PPS test after early operation. There were no changes in PPS.
Conclusion: The degree of reversibility of pulmonary hypertension in patients with CHD could be quantitatively analysed by PPS.