Technetium‐99m stannous pyrophosphate myocardial scintigraphy: Serial imaging to detect myocardial infarcts in patients

Abstract

Summary:Typically, technetium-99m stannous pyrophosphate ~9"'Tc-PYP) myocardial scintigrams become abnormal within 10-12 h following acute myocardial infarction. Ordinarily, the 99mTc_PYP scintigrams become increasingly abnormal between 24 and 72 h follOwing the infarct and then become normal 6-7 days after the event. However, occasional patients and their 99mTc_PYP myocardial scintigrams deviate from this expected pattern by initially developing an abnormal 99mTc_PYP scintigram as late as 4-5 days following an acute myocardial infarction. Others retain "persistently abnormal" 99"'Tc_PYP myocardial scintigrams after their myocardial infarcts. The clinical importance and potential prognostic importance of these deviations from the expected patterns with 99"'Tc_PYP myocardial imaging are discussed and the need for serial myocardial imaging is emphasized.