The specificity of the diffuse pattern of cardiac uptake in myocardial infarction imaging with technetium-99m stannous pyrophosphate.

To analyze the specificity of the diffuse pattern of cardiac uptake with technetium-99m stannous pyrophosphate (TcPYP), we evaluated the bone scans of 1,383 noncardiac patients and the myocardial scintigrams of 120 cardiac patients. Seventy (14.4%) of 483 bone scans performed on a scintillation camera revealed diffuse TcPYP cardiac uptake. Among the total 603 camera bone scans and myocardial scintigrams, the incidence of diffuse cardiac uptake was 16% among patients with clinical coronary disease but 13% among those patients without clinical symptoms. Discrete myocardial uptake was seen in 25 of 26 patients with transmural infarction. Femoral vasculature was more frequently visualized (84% vs 3%, P less than 0.001) and left mastectomy occurred more often (30% vs 1%, P less than 0.001) among patients with diffuse cardiac uptake than among patients with negative images, indicating possible blood pool imaging. The diffuse pattern of cardiac uptake appeared nonspecific and may be due to unintentional cardiac blood pool imaging.