Non-Invasive Detection of Reduced Regional Myocardial Perfusion at Rest in Patients with Unstable Angina Pectoris: Increased Regional ^81mKr Deposition following Intravenous Injection of ⁸¹ Rb^[*]

The present study was to investigate whether combined imaging of ⁸¹ Rb and ^81mKr distributions after i.v. injection of ⁸¹ Rb at rest might improve the differentiation between ischemic and irreversibly damaged myocardium as compared to ²⁰¹TI scintigraphy at rest. In 21 patients who had undergone diagnostic cardiac catheterization for evaluation of chest pain, 148 MBq ultrapure ⁸¹ Rb were injected i.v. at rest immediately following ²⁰¹TI scintigraphy at rest. Of 14 patients with earlier myocardial infarction, 10 patients revealed decreased regional tracer uptake of ⁸¹ Rb and/or ^81mKr, compared to 12 patients with regional ²⁰¹TI uptake abnormalities. In 3 patients with unstable angina pectoris, however, an evident mismatch between either the regional ²⁰¹TI or ⁸¹ Rb distributions and the distribution of ^81mKr was observed: in contrast to the reduced uptake of ²⁰¹TI and/or ⁸¹ Rb, ^81mKr activity was increased in 3 myocardial segments with normal left ventricular performance but supplied by coronary arteries with high-grade stenoses. In patients with contraindications to exercise tests (e.g. unstable angina) ⁸¹Rb/^81mKr rest scintigraphy may therefore assist the differentiation between malperfused but potentially viable and irreversibly damaged myocardium.

Zusammenfassung

Bei 21 symptomatischen Patienten mit vorausgegangener diagnostischer Koronarangiographie wurde untersucht, ob die getrennte Erfassung der myokardialen ⁸¹Rb- und ^81mKr-Aktivitätsverteilungen nach i.v. Applikation von hochreinem ⁸¹Rb eine im Vergleich zur ²⁰¹T1-Ruheszintigraphie verbesserte Differenzierung zwischen ischämischem und irreversibel geschädigtem Myokard gestattet. Unmittelbar im Anschluß an die ²⁰¹T1-Ruheszintigraphie wurden hierzu 148 MBq ⁸¹Rb ebenfalls unter Ruhebedingungen i.v. appliziert. Bei 10 von 14 Patienten mit bekanntem Myokardinfarkt zeigte sich eine Aktivitätsverminderung von ⁸¹Rb und/oder ^81mKr im Infarktareal, mit ²⁰¹T1 bei 12 der 14 Patienten. Bei 3 Patienten mit instabiler Angina pectoris ergab sich jedoch ein »Mismatch« zwischen der myokardialen Aktivitätsverteilung von ²⁰¹T1 bzw. ⁸¹Rb einerseits und ^81mKr andererseits: im Gegensatz zur reduzierten ²⁰¹T1-bzw. ⁸¹Rb-Belegung war die ^81mKr-Aktivität in poststenotischen Myokardsegmenten (Stenosegrad >»99%«) mit angiographisch normaler linksventrikulärer Funktion vermehrt. Damit könnte die ⁸¹Rb/ ^81mKr-Ruhemyokardszintigraphie einen diagnostischen Beitrag zur Differenzierung zwischen minderperfundiertem, aber potentiell vitalem und irreversibel geschädigtem Myokard - insbesondere bei Patienten mit Kontraindikationen zur ergometrischen Belastung (z.B. bei instabiler Angina pectoris) - liefern.suffering from unstable angina; of these, 4 complained of progressive angina (frequent anginal attacks during the last 6 weeks) and 5 patients had angina at rest. Of the 9 patients with unstable angina, 4 patients gave a history of earlier myocardial infarction.

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