Repeatability of estimates of left-ventricular volume from blood-pool counts: concise communication

J Nucl Med. 1983 Sep;24(9):775-81.

Abstract

Radionuclide ventriculography permits nongeometric calculation of ventricular volume. Accurate and reproducible determination of left-ventricular (LV) blood-pool counts is necessary to perform this calculation. Furthermore, to make serial volume determinations one must know the half-time of in vivo blood-pool activity. We compared five methods of LV count determination in nine patients. Interpatient and intrapatient variability of the in vivo half-time of Tc-99m-labeled red blood cells (RBCs) was measured. Left-ventricular count determinations, derived from temporally and spatially smoothed images using a second-derivative algorithm to identify the LV region of interest (ROI), are less variable than those based on manual ROI determinations. The mean in vivo half-time of Tc-99m RBCs is 4.1 hr, and there is significant interpatient (0.9 +/- 0.8 hr) and intrapatient (1.0 +/- 0.9 hr) variability. These findings should be considered in the determination of serial, relative ventricular volume by radionuclide ventriculography.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Blood Volume Determination / methods
  • Cardiac Volume*
  • Erythrocytes
  • Female
  • Heart / diagnostic imaging*
  • Heart Diseases / diagnostic imaging*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Radionuclide Imaging
  • Technetium

Substances

  • Technetium