PARAMETRIC PHASE DISPLAY FOR BIVENTRICULAR FUNCTION FROM GATED CARDIAC BLOOD-POOL SINGLE-PHOTON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY

Complete assessment of biventricular function from planar ECG-gated ca rdiac blood pool studies has been limited because of the overlap of ad jacent activity-containing structures. Theoretically, single-photon em ission tomography (SPET) can be used to comprehensively evaluate both ventricles by isolating them from surrounding anatomy. However, an eno rmous amount of parametric data is generated from gated SPET studies, and much of it is diagnostically irrelevant for ventricular wall motio n analysis. To compress this information to a more easily interpretabl e format, a two-dimensional parametric display has been developed. Fou rier analysis of short-axis tomograms from a gated cardiac blood pool SPET study generates three-dimensional, first-harmonic phase data. Cir cumferential profile data from the parametric tomograms of the right a nd left ventricle are mapped onto a two-dimensional polar display. Thi s method is demonstrated in a normal patient and in three patients wit h abnormal ventricular contraction patterns and appears to have potent ial application for the analysis and characterization of biventricular wall motion.