Breast artifact in planar cardiac imaging: a comparison of 201T1 to sestamibi-99mTc

Breast artifact occurrence during 201T1 myocardial image interpretation is a significant problem. We serially evaluated 3 female patients utilizing exercise treadmill perfusion studies in order to assess the potential role of 99mTc-Sestamibi (MIBI) imaging in the setting of documented 201T1 breast artifact. Both visual and quantitative analyses revealed no superiority of 99mTc-MIBI over 201T1 imaging in reference to avoidance of breast artifact. The variation in artifactual cardiac imaging defects in the 3 patients most probably reflected variations in breast positioning. Finally, the ability to assess ventricular wall motion via gated 99mTc-MIBI imaging may help to confirm an artifactual versus an actual myocardial perfusion abnormality.