The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 20, 646-651, Copyright © 1975 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Noninvasive cardiac evaluation (NICE) of intracardiac shunts using inhaled radioactive carbon dioxide
CL Byrd, D Watson, A Gilson, WM Smoak, F Hildner, M Martinez, JJ Greenberg and WZ Yahr
A totally new, noninvasive technique is presented for the detection and
analysis of left-to-right cardiac shunts. Five millicuries of oxygen 15-
labeled carbon dioxide is administered by a single-breath inhalation
technique. The resultant lung washout curve accurately reflects the
presence or absence of a shunt. The quantitative studies are promising, but
the method must be compared with standard techniques in a statistically
significant series. This work is in progress.