Our first experience with thallium perfusion scintigraphy of myocardium in diagnosis of ischemic heart disease

A comparison was made in a group of 20 patients with suspect or confirmed Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) of the yield of thallium perfusion scintigraphy of the myocardium, with common ergometric and coronarographic examinations. The criterion for the diagnosis of CAD was the coronarographic finding of an at least 50% stenosis of one of the three main branches of the coronary arteries. Comparing scintigraphy with coronarography showed 100% sensitivity and specificity of the isotope examination. There was significant difference between ergometry and thallium scintigraphy as concerns specificity which in ergometric examinations reached 43%; differences in sensitivity were not statistically significant (100% and 93%). A positive correlation was also found between the value of the coronarographic index and the result of thallium scintigraphy. Thallium perfusion scintigraphy of the myocardium is an important contribution to the diagnosis of CAD. (author)