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Title: Thallium lung-to-heart quantification: three methods of evaluation

Journal Article · · J. Nucl. Med. Technol.; (United States)
OSTI ID:5940474

Lung-to-heart quantification, when used in conjunction with visual assessment of /sup 201/Tl stress test images, has been found useful in diagnosing cardiac dysfunction. The authors evaluated three methods of quantification in terms of inter- and intraobserver variability and reproducibility. Fifty anterior /sup 201/Tl stress images were quantified by each of the following methods: Method A (sum region), which involved one region of interest (ROI) in the measurement of pulmonary activity relative to that of the myocardium; Method B (count density), which required two ROIs, the lung-to-heart ratio being dependent on count density; and Method C (maximum pixel), which used the gray scale of the computer to determine the most intense pixels in the lung field and myocardium. Statistical evaluation has shown that the three methods assess clinical data equally well. Method C was found to be most reproducible in terms of inter- and intraobserver variability followed by Methods A and B. Although nearly equivalent in terms of statistics, the three methods possess inherent differences and therefore should not be used interchangeably without conversion factors.

Research Organization:
Mercy Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA
OSTI ID:
5940474
Journal Information:
J. Nucl. Med. Technol.; (United States), Vol. 14:4
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English