Progressive ventricular dilatation is an important prognostic factor in patients with acute myocardial infarction. We evaluated clinical, angiographic, echocardiographic and thallium-201 single-photon emission tomography (SPET) imaging variables predictive of the change in left ventricular volume during a 7-month follow-up period after primary angioplasty in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Thirty-six patients with first acute myocardial infarction treated with primary angioplasty within 12 h of onset underwent 201Tl SPET imaging (5.8+/-2.1 days after angioplasty). Changes in left ventricular volume were assessed over the 7-month period. The left ventricle dilated significantly after angioplasty ( P<0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that the number of segments with 201Tl uptake <40% of peak activity was a single independent predictor of increase in end-diastolic volume index between 1 week and 7 months ( R2=0.41, P< 0.001). The presence of two or more segments with 201Tl uptake <40% predicted an increase in end-diastolic volume index of > or =6 ml/m2 with positive and negative predictive values of 85% (17/20) and 75% (12/16), respectively. It is concluded that, following primary angioplasty in patients with acute myocardial infarction, the extent of myocardial infarction assessed by 201Tl SPET can identify those who will develop ventricular dilatation during the subsequent 7 months.