Assessment of systolic thickening with thallium-201 ECG-gated single-photon emission computed tomography: A parameter for local left ventricular function

The authors measured left ventricular (LV) systolic thickening expressed as a systolic thickening ratio in 28 patients, using 201Tl ECG-gated SPECT. Five normals, 15 patients with prior myocardial infarction, 5 with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and 3 with dilated cardiomyopathy were studied. The systolic thickening ratio was calculated as ((end-systolic--end-diastolic pixel counts) divided by end-diastolic pixel counts), using the circumferential profile technique of both end-diastolic and end-systolic short axial images. Functional images of the systolic thickening ratio were also displayed with the bull's-eye method. The mean systolic thickening ratio thus calculated were as follows: normals, 0.53 {plus minus} 0.05 (mean {plus minus} 1 s.d.); non-transmural prior myocardial infarction, 0.33 {plus minus} 0.09; transmural prior myocardial infarction, 0.14 {plus minus} 0.05; hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in relatively nonhypertrophied areas, 0.56 {plus minus} 0.11; hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in hypertrophied areas, 0.23 {plus minus} 0.07; and dilated cardiomyopathy, 0.19 {plus minus} 0.02. The systolic thickening ratio analysis by gated thallium SPECT offers a unique approach for assessing LV function.