Table 2. The interpretation of radionuclide stress testing by visual analysis.

* Hibernating myocardium also shows persistently reduced uptake. Assessment of viable myocardium with thallium-201 can help to distinguish it from fibrotic tissue, which sometimes necessitates adding another phase or stage, namely, that of late redistribution or re-injection, interpreted in the same manner [23].

Visual findings	Interpretation
No significant change during both stress and resting/distribution phases	Normal myocardium
Relative uptake in stress images and normal uptake during resting/redistribution phase	Ischemic myocardium
Reduced relative uptake during both stress and resting/distribution phases*	Fibrotic myocardium
Reduced relative uptake will be observed during the stress phase, with partial improvement during the resting/redistribution phase	Fibrotic tissue coexists with an ischemic yet viable myocardium.