Radionuclide evaluation of the interventricular septum following coronary artery bypass surgery.

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Abstract
The cases of 25 consecutive patients who underwent radionuclide ventriculography before and after coronary artery bypass surgery and who had normal septal motion before surgery were reviewed. Abnormal septal motion was present in 22 patients (88%), postoperatively. A new motion abnormality appeared following surgery in the apical segments of only 5 of 21 patients (24%) and in the lateral segments of 1 of 22 (5%) patients. All patients improved clinically following surgery; only 2 had evidence of intraoperative myocardial infarction. Postoperatively, 201Tl imaging revealed normal septal perfusion in all 6 patients who underwent this examination. Ischemic injury apparently does not always account for this phenomenon, which is a potential source of confusion in patients after coronary bypass operations. Radionuclide ventriculography apparently identifies the same aberration of ventricular septal motion that is seen during echocardiographic examination of patients who have undergone surgery.