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Measurement of Pericardial Fluid Correlated with the I¹³¹-Cholografin® and IHSA Heart Scan^1,2,

Philadelphia

ABSTRACT

In 23 patients undergoing open-heart surgery in whom the pericardial contents were accurately measured, and in 11 additional patients examined at autopsy or by pericardiocentesis, isotopic photoscans of the heart were made and the results were correlated.

The most accurate means of diagnosis of pericardial effusion was found to be the ratio of the maximum transverse cardiac diameters on scan and roentgenogram. In patients with less than 100 cc of pericardial fluid this ratio was greater than 0.80, and it was less than this in cases of effusion of 200 cc or more.

Measurement of the difference of these diameters, and visible separation of the cardiac blood pool from the pulmonary vasculature and liver aided in the diagnosis.

Pericardial effusions of 200–300 cc or greater can be detected by isotopic photoscanning. Although cardiac dilatation and/or hypertrophy decrease the sensitivity of the technique somewhat, a definite diagnosis of pericardial effusion can be made even when cardiomegaly exists.

FOOTNOTES

¹ Presented at the 10th Annual Meeting, Society of Nuclear Medicine, Montreal, Canada, June 26–29, 1963.

² From the Departments of Radiology (Radiation Therapy and Nuclear Medicine) and Thoracic Surgery, Albert Einstein Medical Center, Northern Division, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.