The role of CT in myocardial infarction

CT of 99 consecutive patients with myocardial infarction was retrospectively compared with echocardiography (82 patients) and thallium myocardial scintigraphy (78 patients) in detectability of myocardial infarction and reliability in evaluation of location and extent of the disease. Myocardial infarction was detected by CT in 96 of 99 patients (97 %), by ecocardiography in 60 of 82 patients (73 %) and by thallium scintigraphy in 63 of 78 patients (81 %). In χ2 test, CT was significantly superior in detection of myocardial infarction (p < 0.01) as well as in reliability in evaluation of location and extent of the disease (p < 0.01) to both echocardiography and thallium scintigraphy. The reasons and clinical significance of the results were discussed. (author)