Scan analysis in myocardial infarction

Myocardial scans with 99mTc-labelled phosphates are reported to be useful in the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction. A retrospective survey of 205 patients referred for 99mTc-phosphate bone scanning and with no evidence of recent heart disease revealed an occurrence of 10% of false positive images, that is to say, uptake of phosphate in non-infarcted myocardium. These striking findings stress the need for critical assessment of the usefulness of this diagnostic technique.