Objective assessment of myocardial perfusion is important in the diagnosis, management and long-term follow-up of patients with coronary artery disease. Thallium-201 perfusion imaging provides valuable information about myocardial viability, regional myocardial blood flow and physiologically important coronary artery disease at rest, during exercise and during pharmacologically induced coronary vasodilation. Dipyridamole "stress" myocardial imaging is indicated in the evaluation of patients who are unable to exercise or who cannot achieve 85 percent of the maximum predicted heart rate. It also may be useful in the preoperative assessment of patients undergoing elective vascular surgery.