Impressive lung uptake during exercise thallium imaging with decrease of systolic blood pressure

A case of very high thallium lung activity during exercise myocardial imaging in a patient with an old myocardial infarction but free from typical angina or heart failure symptoms is reported. The impressively abnormal lung uptake occurred in connection with a stress-induced fall in the systolic blood pressure, pointing out a causal rôle of a transient left ventricular dysfunction and interstitial pulmonary oedema in the genesis of the scintigraphic picture. Three weeks after the test, the patient suddenly died at home.