Quantitative approach to regional blood flow distribution and wall motion using microsphere myocardial scintigraphy in man

A method for quantitative analysis of perfusion and wall motion applied to electrocardiogram-gated images of myocardial 99 mTc albumin microspheres of 99 mTc methoxyisobutil isonitrile, implemented on an Elscint 410M Apex computer system, is described. Quantitative myocardial perfusion was obtained via the ratio between end-diastolic normal reference and patient's angular profiles. A wall thickening index (WTI) was obtained obeying the formula: ((end-systolic profile-end-diastolic profile)/end-diastolic profile) × 100. Compared with regional fractional shortening obtained from biplane contrast ventriculography, microsphere WTI showed sensitivity of 97% and a specificity of 93%. WTI values for methoxyisobutil isonitrile were 82% and 94%, respectively. The proposed count-based method provides simultaneous information on regional perfusion and wall motion.