Serial myocardial imaging with technetium-99m methoxyisobutyl isonitrile (9'Tc-MIBI) has been proposed for evaluating myocardial salvage after reperfusion. To define 'mTc-MIBI uptake before and after reperfusion, 17 open-chest dogs underwent 3 hours of left anterior descending artery occlusion and 3 hours of reperfusion. 9'Tc-MIBI was injected during occlusion (group 1) or after 90 minutes of reperfusion (group 2). Myocardial 99'Tc-MIBI activity was correlated with microsphere flow during occlusion and reperfusion. Anatomic risk area and infarct area were defined by postmortem vital staining and correlated with the perfusion defects defined by analysis of 99mTc-MIBI macroautoradiographs and gamma camera images of myocardial slices. The left ventricle was divided into 96 segments for gamma well counting. Flow and '9"Tc-MIBI activity were normalized to nonischemic values. Myocardial segments were grouped, based on occlusion flow, into zones: severely ischemic (<30% nonischemic), moderately ischemic (>30%o, .60%o nonischemic), mildly ischemic (>60%o, <90%1 nonischemic), and nonischemic (>90%o, < 120% nonischemic). Among dogs injected with "'Tc-MIBI during coronary occlusion (group 1), myocardial 99'Tc-MIBI activity correlated linearly with occlusion flow for both endocardial (r=0.91) and transmural (r=0.91) segments. The risk area defined by '9mTc-MIBI autoradiography (group 1) correlated with the postmortem risk area (p=0.94) but was 29O smaller than the anatomic risk area (p=0.03), reflecting the contribution of collateral flow. Among dogs injected with "'Tc-MIBI after reperfusion (group 2), myocardial 99"Tc-MIBI did not correlate with reperfusion flow in either endocardial or transmural segments. Among group 2 dogs, myocardial 9'Tc-MIBI activity was significantly less than reperfusion flow at the time of injection in the severely ischemic (25 ±5% versus 74±24% nonischemic,p=0.002), moderately ischemic (54±12% versus 96+15% nonischemic, p=0.001), and mildly ischemic (84±6% versus 93±3% nonischemic, p=0.002) zones. The defect area defined by 'mTc-MIBI autoradiography (group 2) correlated very closely with the postmortem infarct area (p=0.98). Thus, the myocardial uptake of 99mTc-MIBI during coronary occlusion correlates with occlusion flow and reflects the "area at risk." When 99mTc-MIBI was given after 90 minutes of reperfusion following 3 hours of coronary occlusion, the myocardial activity was significantly reduced compared with reperfusion flow in both necrotic and perinecrotic regions, reflecting myocardial viability more than the degree of reperfusion. (Circulation 1990;82:1424-1437 T X ahe current management of myocardial infarcinfarction, the extent of myocardial necrosis is detertion focuses on the application of acute mined by the "area at risk," collateral flow, and the interventional reperfusion techniques to duration of coronary occlusion.2 A noninvasive imagreduce myocardial necrosis.1 During myocardial ing technique that could 1) assess the area at risk, 2)

Thus, with adenosine-induced hyperemic flow, both 201Tl and sestamibi significantly underestimated the magnitude of the flow disparity between stenotic and normal perfusion beds. The degree of underestimation was greater for sestamibi. The clinical implication of these experimental findings for vasodilator perfusion imaging remains to be determined, since factors such as greater redistribution and scatter with 201Tl could offset its advantages.

Background-The oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) LOX-1 plays a crucial role in atherosclerosis. We sought to detect and assess atherosclerotic plaque in vivo by using single-photon emission computed tomography/ computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging and a molecular probe targeted at LOX-1. Methods and Results-Apolipoprotein E Ϫ/Ϫ mice fed a Western diet and LDLR Ϫ/Ϫ and LDLR