Time course of myocardial infarction evaluated by indium-111-antimyosin monoclonal antibody scintigraphy: clinical implications and prognostic value.

To investigate the clinical implications of 111In-antimyosin antibody scintigraphy in the chronic stage of myocardial infarction, 34 studies were performed in 26 patients with 36 infarcts of various infarct ages. The infarcts were divided into three groups according to time from onset of chest pain to scintigraphy. Positive antimyosin images were obtained in 93% of Group I patients (3 days to 1 mo), 71% of Group II patients (1.5 mo to 1 yr) and none were obtained from Group III patients (1.5-6 yr). A negative correlation was observed between antimyosin uptake and the time after myocardial infarction. In Group II, patients with coronary artery patency and patients showing redistribution on exercise 201TI scintigraphy were more likely to have positive antimyosin images compared to patients without these features. Recurrent angina may also relate to chronic antimyosin uptake. Indium-111-antimyosin antibody scintigraphy may be a useful method in assessing the course of myocardial infarction and for the patient follow-up.