The combined TI-201/Tc-99mPPi tomography was compared to planar Tc-99m-PPi scintigraphy in terms of diagnosis and localization of the infarction. In 32 consecutive patients with recent myocardial infarctions, the necrosis could be detected by means of planar imaging in 17 out of 22 patients with transmural and in three out of 10 patients with intramural infarctions. Six out of seven patients without recent myocardial infarctions were accurately diagnosed. Double radionuclide tomography made possible accurate diagnoses in all patients. Artefacts resulting from residual radioactivity within the cardiac blood pool and uptake of tracer in bones that overlie the heart were only observed with planar imaging.
Conclusion: double radionuclide tomography is superior to planar imaging in the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction.