Nuclear cardiology: A decade of clinical use for the detection of coronary artery disease

From 1958 to 1977 the clinical techniques of blood pool imaging and myocardial perfusion imaging were described for the detection of coronary disease. The technology grew from the rectilinear scanner, used for the detection of pericardial effusion in 1958, to the multicrystal camera for first-pass radionuclide ventriculography in 1963, to the Anger camera for determination of ejection fraction, and to exercise radionuclide ventriculography, to define ventricular function reserve. Exercise injected myocardial perfusion imaging evolved in parallel, from the use of K-43 and the rectilinear scanner in 1972 to the use of thallium-201 and the scintillation camera in 1975. From 1975 to 1985, a vast clinical experience has been amassed with these techniques using, essentially, stable radiopharmaceutical and imaging technology