[Value of isotopic methods in the diagnosis of myocardial infarction of the right ventricle].
In the left ventricle, isotope techniques can be used to study the perfusion of the myocardium or the ventricular function. Because of the thinness of the walls of the right heart, the classical examinations and Thallium 201 perfusion cannot be used to demonstrate a disorder of perfusion in the right ventricle. Nevertheless, it is possible, with the aid of Technetium 99m labeled pyrophosphate, to diagnose and localise necrosis of the inferior wall with an acceptable degree of sensitivity, during the acute phase of the infarction. However, the major value of isotope techniques is to evaluate right ventricular function by determining the value of the global ejection fraction and the kinetic anomalies of the different walls. These methods, together with echocardiography, allow the diagnosis of lesions of the inferior part of the right ventricle in patients with inferior necrosis... Furthermore, because these methods allow quantification and because they are reproducible and repeatable, they can be used to follow the course of the right ventricular function in response to treatment.