Determination of left ventricular ejection fraction in technetium-99m-methoxy isobutyl isonitrile radionuclide angiocardiography

摘要

Abnormal left ventricular function is a diagnostic indication of cardiac disease. Left ventricular function is most commonly quantified by ejection fraction measurements. This paper presents a novel approach for the measurement of left ventricular ejection fraction (L VEF) using the recently introduced myocardial imaging agent, technetium-99m methoxy isobutyl isonitrile ($+99m$/Tc- sestamibi). The approach utilizes computer image processing techniques to determine L VEF in equilibrium $+99m$/Tc-sestamibi multiple gated radionuclide angiography (RNA). Equilibrium RNA is preferred to first-pass RNA techniques due to the higher signal- to-noise ratio of equilibrium RNA resulting from longer image acquisition times. Data from 23 patients, symptomatic of cardiac disease, indicate that L VEFs determined using this radionuclide technique correlate well with contrast x-ray single plane cineangiography (r $EQ 0.83, p $LS 0.0000003).