Dual-isotope myocardial perfusion SPECT with rest thallium-201 and stress Tc-99m sestamibi

Abstract

The commercial availability of Tc-99m-labeled myocardial perfusion agents had added choices in the noninvasive clinical assessment of coronary artery disease. Preferential use of Tc-99m sestamibi has been advocated principally due to improved image quality, which results from the combined physical and biological characteristics of this agent. This article reports upon the investigation of another approach for Tc-99m sestamibi SPECT--dual-isotope rest-stress myocardial perfusion SPECT, which takes advantage of the Anger camera's ability to collect date in different energy windows. For the dual-isotope approach, separate radiopharmaceuticals are employed for the rest injection and the stress injection.