Gated blood-pool studies of cardiac function in the rat and marmoset.

To develop a sensitive, relatively noninvasive method for monitoring cardiac function in small laboratory animals, equilibrium gated blood-pool imaging (with Tc-99m RBC) was adapted for use in an inbred strain of laboratory rats of 400-470 g body weight and in marmosets of 320-400 g body weight. A 2-mm pinhole collimator was fitted to the gamma camera to produce a distinct image of the left ventricle following intravenous injection of 5 mCi of pertechnetate. Reproducible and consistent data for heart rate, left-ventricular ejection fraction, and peak ejection rate were obtained from studies on 13 male rats and five marmosets maintained on constant diets. An intravenous injection of 0.4 microgram of isoprenaline led to predictable increases in heart rate, left-ventricular ejection fraction, and peak ejection rate, and provided evidence of the sensitivity of the method in monitoring heart function in small laboratory animals.