Abstract
Introduction: Anecdotal observation was made of increased stomach accumulation of 99mTc Tetrofosmin in myocardial perfusion patients where the uptake phase corresponded to the preparation of hamburgers for gastric empty patients. The potential for olfactory stimulation of altered gastric biodistribution required further investigation. Methodology: An experimental group and a control group of patients were recruited (n = 20 each). The experimental group could smell food preparation in the adjacent room during the uptake phase. Stomach, heart and background regions were drawn in multiple projections and the resulting data evaluated. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups for stomach counts per pixel, background corrected counts per pixel or the heart to stomach ratio. Further analysis of the data revealed a statistically significant increase in stomach counts (P = 0.022) and background corrected stomach counts (P = 0.018) for females over males. Conclusion: While there is no causal relationship between increased stomach activity of 99mTc tetrofosmin and olfactory stimulation from cooking food during the uptake phase of the radiopharmaceutical, increased stomach accumulation can be attributed to female gender.
