Evaluation of right ventricular regional perfusion with technetium-99m-sestamibi SPECT

J Nucl Med. 1991 Jun;32(6):1199-205.

Abstract

To evaluate technetium-99m-sestamibi as a right ventricular perfusion imaging agent, 25 normal volunteers and 25 patients with suspected coronary disease were studied with both sestamibi and thallium-201 SPECT. All patients underwent cardiac characterization. Compared to thallium-201 images, visualization of the right ventricle was superior for sestamibi in all cases. After computer masking of the left ventricle, count profiles for each 6-mm right ventricular short-axis slice were extracted and plotted in a bull's-eye type polar map with images normalized to maximal right ventricular counts. On sestamibi right ventricular polar maps, 7 of 11 patients (64%) with right coronary stenosis had fixed or reversible inferior right ventricular defects. None of the 25 volunteers or patients without right coronary stenosis had right ventricular defects (true-negative rate = 100%). We conclude that sestamibi SPECT provides an accurate means to assess right ventricular regional perfusion, with data presentation and interpretation facilitated by the polar map display.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Coronary Circulation / physiology*
  • Coronary Disease / diagnostic imaging*
  • Coronary Disease / physiopathology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Organotechnetium Compounds*
  • Technetium Tc 99m Sestamibi
  • Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon*
  • Ventriculography, First-Pass

Substances

  • Organotechnetium Compounds
  • Technetium Tc 99m Sestamibi