Usefulness of acute myocardial infarct size and localization using Tc-99m-pyrophosphate and single photon emission computed tomography

Tc-99m-Pyrophosphate(PYP)myocardial emission computed tomography(ECT) was performed following standard planar imaging in 45 patients(pts) with acute myocardial infarction(AMI). All of them had clinical, electrocardiographic and enzymatic evidence of AMI. The planar imaging and ECT imaging were interpreted independently by two observers who had no knowledge of the clinical findings. 10 pts(22.2 %), who showed diffuse uptake on planar imaging, revealed focal uptake on ECT imaging without cardiac blood pool imaging. And there is no disagreement as to interpretation of the infarct location by two observers on ECT imaging. We conclude that ECT imaging with Tc-99m-PYP increases interobserver agreement in the diagnosis and localization of AMI and may lead to more accurate localization and sizing of AMI, espesically in cases of diffuse cardiac activity on planar imaging. (author)