Thallium-201 myocardial perfusion imaging during transient coronary occlusion at the time of PTCA

To evaluate myocardial perfusion during transient coronary arterial occlusion, thallium-201 was administered intravenously during percutaneous transluminall coronary angioplasty (PTCA) in 12 patients with effort angina, and the resulting perfusion images were compared with those of exercise stress obtained before PTCA. Thallium-201 was injected at the last inflation of an angioplastic baloon and occlusion was maintained for 60 to 90 sec. Three projections of planar images were obtained immediately after PTCA, using a portable gamma camera in an angiography room. These perfusion images obtained during PTCA and exercise were visually interpreted and compared. Myocardial perfusion defects due to the responsible vessel occlusion were observed at early imaging after PTCA, and were fully redistributed three hrs post injection. In 10 patients without angiographically imaged collateral vessels, there were no significatn differences in perfusion between images during PTCA and during exercise. Two patients whose collaterals were observed during coronary angiography before PTCA had higher perfusion scores during PTCA than during exercise. We concluded that intravenous injection of thallium-201 during PTCA is a useful means for assessing alteration of myocardial perfusion due to transient coronary occlusion without increasing the risk of angioplastic procedures, and that it provides more precise information about the jeopardized myocardium, perfused by antegrade blood flow. (author)