Comparative evaluation of [123I]14-p-iodophenyl-beta-methyltetradecanoic acid and thallium-201 in the detection of infarcted areas in the dog heart using SPECT.

The concept of using beta-methyl-branched long-chain fatty acids for assessment of myocardial fatty acid uptake and perfusion was extended to the use of radioiodinated fatty acid with stabilization of iodine on the omega-phenyl ring. Beagle dogs were injected with thallium-201 and imaged 15 min after injection. The next day the dogs were infarcted by occluding the LAD, and 2 h later they were injected with [123I]14-p-iodophenyl-beta-methyltetradecanoic acid [123I]BMTDA and imaged for 90 min using a gated SPECT procedure. Maximum uptake of BMTDA in the heart was reached 2 min post injection and the activity level remained constant in the heart during the imaging period. The activity ratio of target to nontarget areas in the tomographic slices was significantly better for the BMTDA imaging compared to 201Tl (P greater than 0.01).