GASTRIC ACTIVITY ON DIPYRIDAMOLE TL-201 MYOCARDIAL PERFUSION IMAGING - A CLINICALLY USEFUL FINDING

To determine the potential association of increased Tl-201 uptake by t he stomach with symptoms referable to gastritis, 39 consecutive patien ts experiencing chest pain syndromes underwent a routine dipyridamole Tl-201 pharmacological stress test. With the patient in a fasting stat e, dipyridamole was infused intravenously (0.56 mg kg(-1)), shortly fo llowed by Tl-201 infusion and subsequent image acquisition for single photon emission tomography (SPET). The original 32 SPET images over 18 0 degrees of are were interpreted without knowledge of clinical data, using a 4-point scoring system. Patients with active symptoms of gastr o-oesophageal discomfort (n=17) were found to have significantly great er Tl-201 stomach uptake scores, compared to the little or no uptake i n the 22 patients without such active symptoms (P=0.0001). A stepwise logistic regression analysis was used to determine which factor(s) sho wed independent predictive value of Tl-201 gastric uptake. The only tw o independent variables identified were the presence of active gastrit is symptoms and the use of anti-gastritis medications. Elevated gastri c Tl-201 uptake may be a clinically useful finding indicative of gastr ic inflammation that may be of value in the differential diagnosis of chest and epigastric discomfort.