Left ventricular ejection fraction and volumes on rest gated 201Tl perfusion SPECT: comparison with two-dimensional echocardiography.

Background: Rest gated 201Tl images are considered to be of poor count statistics due to lower energy and low photon flux of 201Tl in addition to increased attenuation and low dose that can be administered. We compared the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), end diastolic (EDV) and end systolic volume (ESV) obtained on 4 h gated rest 201Tl myocardial perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) with those obtained by two-dimensional echocardiography (2-D ECHO) in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease (CAD).

Methods: Eighty-two consecutive patients who underwent gated 201Tl stress-rest myocardial perfusion SPECT and 2-D ECHO were studied.