Calculation of viable and infarcted myocardial mass from thallium-201 tomograms

The feasibility of determining the mass of both viable and infarcted myocardium from tomographic images of thallium-201 distribution in the heart was studied in two normal dogs and ten dogs with acute infarction. Twenty-four hours after occlusion, thallium-201 was injected and 10 min later the hearts were removed and transaxial emission computed tomograms were obtained. Using the computer, an operator defined the epi- and endocardial surfaces of the left ventricle and the area of infarction in each tomogram. The computer then calculated values for total left-ventricular mass (TLVM) infarcted mass (IM) and the percentage of the left ventricle infarcted (% LVI). The calculated values were compared with measured weights, and good correlation was found between them: for TLVM, r = 0.87; for IM, r = 0.90; and for %LVI, r = 0.87. Good interobserver and intra-observer correlations were also found. Thallium-201 emission computed tomography offers a potential means to measure both myocardial mass and acute myocardial injury.