Clinical usefulness of acute myocardial infarction imaging by sup(99m)Tc-pyrophosphate

To study the usefulness of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) imaging with sup(99m)Tc-pyrophosphate (Tc-PYP), 28 patients with AMI were studied. Sensitivity of Tc-PYP imaging to detect AMI was 93% and this method was especially useful to detect small AMI, subendocardial MI and new AMI near regions of old MI. Semiquantitatively analyzed hot spot size (PYP-size) reflected the extent of MI and left ventricular function and was valuable for the estimation of the prognosis. Persistent positive Tc-PYP imaging after the acute phase of MI was ominous sign too, and it implied the exsistence of serious left ventricular dysfunction. (author)