Tl-201 myocardial scintigrams in patients with left bundle-branch block (LBBB) are frequently non-diagnostic with respect to presence or absence of coronary artery disease (CAD). The new myocardial perfusion tracer Tc-99m-MIBI requires a different protocol due to its insignificant redistribution. Therefore, scintigraphic patterns in LBBB cannot be deduced from experiences with Tl-201. In a total of 132 patients with LBBB, 81 studies were carried out with Tl-201, another 81 studies with Tc-99m-MIBI. In 30 patients both radio-pharmaceuticals were employed. 72 % of the Tl-201 scintigraphies in constant LBBB resulted in a reversible septal deficit and 9 % in a constant septal deficit. In contrast, 70% of the Tc-99m-MIBI scintigraphies resulted in a constant septal deficit and only 19 % in a reversible septal deficit. Similar "discrepancies" were found in LBBB patients in whom CAD has been angiographically excluded (N = 17). All patients, however, with LAD or RCA stenoses and constant LBBB showed reversible septal deficits with either tracer, Tl-201 (N = 12) or Tc-99m-MIBI (N = 10). It is concluded: 1) that the majority of patients with LBBB has reduced septal perfusion, 2) that this reduction is typically stress-independent in absence of CAD, and 3) that this stress-independent perfusion deficit is, in general, only differentiated from stress-induced ischemia (in case of CAD) with using the Tc-99m-MIBI protocol.
