Radionuclide assessment of cardiac performance and myocardial perfusion in congestive cardiomyopathies

To determine the reliability of radionuclide techniques in the diagnosis of congestive cardiomyopathy (COCM), the function of the right ventricle (RV) and left ventricle (LV) was evaluated in 32 patients with COCM and 21 normal subjects using radionuclide angiography (first pass and gated blood pool scan) combined with quantitative201 thallium (Tl) myocardial perfusion imaging. In COCM parameters of RV and LV performance were significantly reduced (p .01); regional wall motion analysis revealed a reduced radial shortening ability (p 0.05). 201Tl distribution within the myocardium was not different between COCM and N; however, segmental 201Tl‐uptake was significantly reduced (p 0.01). RV free wall was visualized on 201Tl scan in 80% of patients with COCM. There was no correlation between RV free wall visualization and RV hemodynamics.