Quantitative Radionuclide Angiocardiography

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Abstract
A new method of determining pulmonary-to-systemic flow ratios (Qp/Qs) in patients with left-to-right shunts using radionuclide angiocardiography is described. It involves the analysis of pulmonary time-activity histograms using a gamma-variate model. It appears to be simple, relatively atraumatic, and superior to the methods using C2/C1 ratios because, in addition to accurately detecting the presence of left-to-right shunts, it permits precise quantitation. In the 35 patients studied, it was found that Qp/Qs 1.2 and that when the Qp/Qs is between 1.2 and <3 the shunts could be accurately quantified.