Clinical Myocardial Imaging with Nitrogen-13 Ammonia

Abstract

Myocardial infarcts may be clearly imaged using intravenous nitrogen-13 as carrier-free ammonia in doses of 10–30 mCi. This positron emitter is well imaged with the Nuclear Chicago HP Anger Camera with heavy collimation. The rapid blood disappearance of the agent gives good image contrast, and the short half-life and high isotope dosage give high-count density images with little radiation absorbed dose (5 mrad∕mCi total body).