Myocardial scintigraphy with 99m-Tc-pyrophosphate in patients with acute myocardial infarction

The purpose of the study was to find the optimal conditions for scintigraphic examination in acute myocardial infarction (AMI), as well as to develop an algorithm and a computer programme for a more objective processing of the results obtained with gamma camera, and, finally, to juxtapose the evidence obtained and the clinical pattern. Thirty-six patients aged 34-80 years (28 with AMI and 8 with chronic ischaemic heart disease) were examined with the aid of a gamma camera. The scintigrams were evaluated visually by three experts independently and were assigned scores from 0 through 3. They were also processed with a computer. Maximal indicator accumulation was found by the end of hour 2 after injection. The indicator accumulation was higher on days 3-5 after the onset of the condition as compared with that on the first two days. The accumulation extent depends on the severity and, in some projections, on the location of the AMI as well. The scintigraphic imaging and assessment of the severity of AMI is reliable and useful, especially when the findings are processed with a computer.