Radioisotopic Angiocardiography

Radioisotopic angiocardiography has been performed in 120 patients after the intravenous injection of 99m Tc pertechnetate. A scintillation camera and a variable time-lapse videoscintiscope were used. The results indicate that the method permits identification and physiologic assessment of a wide variety of congenital and acquired cardiovascular lesions, including septal defects, valvular stenosis and incompetence, aneurysm, tumor, venous obstruction, ventricular hypertrophy, and effusion. Emphasis particularly is given, therefore, to the wide scope of applicability of the procedure. The diagnostic criteria employed for a representative group of these lesions are presented together with illustrative examples to demonstrate the type and quality of the information which may be obtained with the method. The procedure is rapid and safe and does not require hospitalization, heart catheterization, or special preparation of the patient, advantages which favor its use as a diagnostic screening test. In addition to its diagnostic uses, radioisotopic angiography may offer a useful and convenient method of assessing the effects of therapy or of following the course of disease.