Thallium-201 myocardial imaging for evaluation of right-ventricular overloading

This study evaluated the specificity and sensitivity of Tl-201 myocardial imaging in the detection of right-ventricular (RV) overloading. Right-ventricular visualization (RVV) after administration of Tl-201 chloride was studied on 99 patients with various heart diseases. Tracer uptake in the free wall of the RV was graded in four degrees. The degree of RVV was compared with the findings of cardiac catheterization. The comparisons indicated that the uptake increased in step with the inreases in RV systolic pressure, RV end-diastolic pressure, mean pulmonary arterial pressure, total pulmonary vascular resistance, and stroke-work index of the right ventricle (P < 0.05--P < 0.001). Of the patients with visible RV, all but three had RV overloading, and all but three of those without RVV had normal RV systolic pressure. Myocardial images also reflect the type of RV overloading. In patients with RV pressure overloading, the septum showed a tendency to appear straight. In patients with atrial septal defect leading to RV volume overloading, the RV cavity was dilated, the LV image small, and the septum convex toward the RV cavity. These results indicate that Tl-201 myocardial imaging is a sensitive and specific method for the study of RV overloading