Kr-81m for determination of right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF)

A 10--12 mCi 81Rb leads to 81mKr generator was connected to a specially designed short-period infusion set, to produce an equilibrium activity distribution in the right heart. This procedure was tested in 25 individuals to calculate the right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF). On average 30 heart cycles were analyzed per study. No background activity from the left heart was visualized because of the radionuclide exhalation. The background from the lungs could be neglected, which is partially due to the ultra-short half-life of the nuclide (t 1/2 = 13 S). Thus, an easy automatic procedure can be applied to delineate the ventricle and to calculate the RVEF. The data showed excellent reproducibility, when investigations were repeated. The method would benefit from use of higher activity generators.