Thallium 201 myocardial scintigraphy. Advantages and limitations.

Myocardial scintigraphy with thallium 201 is a simple, safe, and valuable noninvasive technique in evaluating the condition of patients with cardiac disorders. Images obtained at rest appear to have limited usefulness at the present time. However, rest imaging may prove to have advantages in the future for early diagnosis of myocardial infarction, thus aiding in the selection of patients to be admitted to the coronary care unit. Exercise imaging, on the other hand, has a high degree of sensitivity and specificity in detecting ischemic heart disease; when combined with treadmill exercise testing, imaging improves the diagnostic accuracy even further.