[Infarct size determined by emission computed tomography using 99mTc-PYP: effect of coronary thrombolysis]

Emission computed tomography with 99mTc-PYP was used to estimate infarct size in 38 patients with documented acute myocardial infarction. In the present study, the effect of thrombolysis with Urokinase on infarct size and on left ventricular function was assessed. Fourteen patients with acute myocardial infarction who underwent intracoronary thrombolysis within six hours after the onset of symptoms, and 24 patients who underwent conventional therapy were the subjects of this study. Infarct size was measured by drawing a region of interest around the myocardial pyrophosphate uptake for each tomographic slice. The boundary was then defined as 65% of the maximal count within the region of interest as determined by phantom volume studies. The total number of voxels was obtained by adding those in all slices and multiplying the sum by the voxel volume (0.205 ml per one voxel) to determine the infarct volume. Measurement of the 99mTc-PYP uptake on the tomographic image revealed an average infarct size of 100.1 +/- 36.0 ml (ranged 45 to 198). The calculated infarct volume correlated significantly with sigma CPK (p less than 0.01) and with left ventricular ejection fraction (p less than 0.01), but not with the peak CPK. In patients with acute inferior myocardial infarction, the mean infarct volume was 78.4 +/- 29.1 ml in the coronary thrombolysis group, and 105.1 +/- 33.7 ml in the conventional bypass graft treatment group (p less than 0.05). We concluded that successful intracoronary thrombolysis may reduce infarct size. ECT imaging with 99mTc-PYP to determine infarct size may be clinically applicable in patients with acute myocardial infarction.