[Diagnostic possibilities of myocardial scintigraphy using T1-201 in acute myocardial infarction]

Myocardial scintigraphic investigation using 201T1 was performed in 36 patients with suspected acute myocardial infarction and 11 clinically normal controls. The scintigrams were assessed visually and using a computer program for semiquantitative assessment of 201T1 distribution across the myocardium. The control subjects' scintigrams show a comparatively even myocardial distribution of the label. Patients with acute myocardial infarction were divided into 2 groups: those with large-focal (28) and small-focal (8) infarctions. All the patients from the large-focal group showed perfusion defects in their scintigrams. Clinical and autopsy diagnoses coincided in all the cases, and the vital scintigraphic pattern correlated with the posthumous localization of the myocardial infarction. However, the method of myocardial scintigraphy with 201T1 in acute myocardial infarction is of low specificity. To improve the differential diagnosis of myocardial infarction, repeated scintigraphy is needed.