Differentiation of viable and nonviable myocardium after acute reperfusion using serial thallium-201 imaging

This study was performed to determine if differences in regional myocardial thallium clearance rates could differentiate salvaged from nonsalvaged myocardium after reperfusion. Twenty-one dogs underwent 2 hours of left anterior descending coronary artery ligation followed by reperfusion. Thallium was administered 5 minutes later and serial images were acquired over 3 hours. Of the 21 dogs, 15 had infarctions of which nine had initially reduced anterior wall thallium activity (group 1) and six had normal or increased activity (group 2). Six dogs did not have an infarction (group 3). All group 1 dogs demonstrated reduced clearance rates in the anterior wall (T1/2 = 15.0 +/- 4.7 hours, SD) compared to the posterior wall (T1/2 = 9.0 +/- 4.4 hours; p less than 0.001). Group 2 dogs demonstrated increased clearance rates in the anterior wall (T1/2 = 5.7 +/- 2.0 hours) compared to the posterior wall (T1/2 = 10.5 +/- 4.6 hours; p less than 0.001). Group 3 dogs demonstrated no difference in clearance rates. In conclusion, although thallium uptake is frequently reduced in nonsalvaged myocardium, tracer uptake can be normal or increased if perfusion has been completely restored. However, an increased clearance rate from the reperfused zone compared to the normal zone is a reliable indicator of nonsalvaged myocardium, despite normal initial thallium uptake.