Sodium bicarbonate-augmented stress thallium myocardial scintigraphy

It is well known that sodium bicarbonate in pharmacological doses induces transient alkalosis, causing intracellular transport of serum potassium. The aims of this study were (a) to investigate whether, in humans, myocardial thallium-201 uptake can be augmented by pretreatment with a single bolus of sodium bicarbonate at a pharmacological dose, (b) to verify general safety aspects of the intervention and (c) to evaluate the clinical implications of augmentation of (201)Tl uptake, if any. Routine exercise myocardial scintigraphy was performed twice in eight adult volunteers (five normal and three abnormal), once without intervention and the second time (within a week) following intravenous administration of sodium bicarbonate (88 mEq in 50 ml) as a slow bolus 1 h prior to the injection of (201)Tl. Conventional myocardial thallium study was compared with sodium bicarbonate interventional myocardial scintigraphy with respect to myocardial uptake (counts per minute per mCi injected dose), washout patterns in normal and abnormal myocardial segments, and overall clinical interpretation based on planar and single-photon emission tomographic (SPET) images. All patients remained asymptomatic after the intervention. A mean increase of 53% in myocardial uptake of thallium was noted in post-exercise acquisitions after the intervention, confirming uptake of the tracer via the potassium-hydrogen pump and its augmentation by transient alkalosis. The washout pattern remained unchanged. The visual quality of planar and SPET images improved significantly after the intervention. Out of the five abnormal myocardial segments identified in three cases, four showed significant filling-in after the intervention, causing the diagnosis to be upgraded from "partial scar" to "ischaemia", or from "ischaemia" to "normal". The overall scan impression changed in two out of three such cases. Sodium bicarbonate augmentation may have significant implications for stress-thallium scintigraphy and may be a new parameter for defining myocardial viability.