Viable but noncontractile myocardium: the clinical problem

Diagnostic value of Tc-99m sestamibi gated SPECT to assess viability in a patient after acute myocardial infarction

The case of a 56-year-old woman who was admitted with an acute anteroseptal myocardial infarction showed severely decreased left ventricular function and regional wall motion abnormalities on planar Tc-99m gated blood pool imaging. Tc-99m sestamibi stress SPECT imaging demonstrated residual peri-infarct ischemia. At angiography, a solitary severe proximal left anterior descending stenosis was successfully dilated. Later, because of recurrent chest pain, a second Tc-99m sestamibi stress-rest SPECT was performed to exclude restenosis. Because the question of viability within the infarct region had also been asked, a gated protocol was applied and compared to TI-201 rest-redistribution SPECT. Both tests pointed to the existence of tissue viability in the septal region, without evidence for stress ischemia. The patient was then medically treated. One year later, because of angina, Tc-99m gated SPECT blood pool imaging showed a spectacular increase in left ventricular function and a dramatic improvement in regional wall motion. Angiographic data confirmed these findings and there was no significant restenosis. Thus, Tc-99m sestamibi gated SPECT may be helpful in predicting viability and recovery of function in patients with severely impaired left ventricular regional wall motion after acute myocardial infarction.