ABSTRACT
Before implementing one of two new LVEF radionuclide gated ventriculogram (MUGA) systems, the results from 315 consecutive parallel patient studies were evaluated. Each gamma-camera acquisition was simultaneously processed by semi-automatic Medasys Pinnacle and by fully-automatic and semi-automatic Philips nuclear medicine computer systems. The Philips systems yielded LVEF results within +/- 5 LVEF percentage points of the Medasys system in fewer than half of the studies. The remaining values were higher or lower than those from the long-used Medasys system. These differences might have changed cancer patient chemotherapy clinical decisions in 54 cases (17% of studies) for one of the systems. As a result, our institution elected not to implement either new system.
