[Correlation of myocardial scintigraphy findings with 201Tl and electrocardiography in evaluation of the state of the myocardium in patients with ischemic heart disease].

One hundred and twenty-seven coronary heart disease patients with angina of effort and at rest were examined, using myocardial scintigraphy with 201Tl. The results obtained were compared with the ECG findings recorded at 12 conventional leads. Myocardial scintigraphy with 201Tl was shown to be a highly sensitive (91% sensitivity) and accurate method of detecting and locating the local impairments of the myocardial blood supply. However it was not specific for diagnosing the post-infarction cicatricial changes (specificity was less than 10%). As compared to ECG with a sensitivity of 60% and specificity of 90%, myocardial scintigraphy with 201Tl makes it possible to diagnose more accurately the focal changes in the posterior wall which could be hardly detected by ECG. Myocardial scintigraphy may serve as a method of choice in cases where the clinical symptoms of myocardial infarction are not confirmed by the ECG findings as to the presence of focal changes as well as in cases of intraventricular conductivity irregularities and combined focal myocardial impairments of various localization which makes it difficult to differentiate one from another.