Evaluation of cardiac function with radionuclides

Radionuclide methods have greatly facilitated the evaluation of cardiac physiology and the detection of heart disease in a wide variety of patients. Technological developments have provided us with a variety of instruments to measure left ventricular function. These instruments vary widely in their cost, portability, and type of information provided. Each of these factors should be weighted in relation to the patient population under study when selecting an instrument. The role of radionuclide techniques in assessing ventricular function and their cost-effectiveness should also be evaluated in comparison to the information presently available using state-of-the-art two-dimensional echocardiography. Also for each patient referred to the nuclear medicine laboratory, a decision to assess left ventricular function using the methods described in this chapter or myocardial perfusion with completely different radiopharmaceuticals and imaging techniques should be made