Non imaging left- and right ventricular monitoring with a modified nuclear probe system

A non imaging nuclear probe system (Cardioscint, Oakfield instruments, UK) has been developed for the left ventricular (LV) bed side monitoring. The purpose of this study was to modify this system for a simultaneously biventricular monitoring. This modified system was given a trial with testing models to examine the detector characteristics, as well as the adequate acquisition-time. The system was also applied to a small number of ambulant patients (n=8) and compared to an equilibrium gamma-camera radionuclide ventriculography (RNV). The LV ejection fraction (EF) showed a good correlation with RNV, but right ventricular (RV) EF was highly underestimated. The main reason seems to be the problem of the detector positioning over the right ventricel. (author)