Myocardial viability. Assessment by cardiac scintigraphy

Abstract

Myocardial systolic contractile dysfunction can occur despite preservation of myocardial viability, conditions referred to as myocardial 'stunning' or 'hibernation.' Because simple assessment of wall motion does not adequately distinguish nonviable from viable but noncontracting myocardial regions, clinicians require alternate methods to assess whether strategies might be useful. Nuclear imaging techniques can provide relatively precise, clinically relevant information regarding the status of myocardial viability, despite the presence of regional or global systolic dysfunction.