@article {Fukuchi527, author = {Kazuki Fukuchi and Yoshio Yasumura and Keisuke Kiso and Kohei Hayashida and Kunio Miyatake and Yoshio Ishida}, title = {Gated Myocardial SPECT to Predict Response to β-Blocker Therapy in Patients with Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy}, volume = {45}, number = {4}, pages = {527--531}, year = {2004}, publisher = {Society of Nuclear Medicine}, abstract = {Because of the difficulty of predicting the response of patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC) to β-blocker therapy, this study was performed to evaluate whether gated myocardial SPECT (gated SPECT) could be useful for predicting that response. Methods: We performed gated SPECT with 99mTc-sestamibi on 38 patients with IDC before treatment with a β-blocker and standard medication. Perfusion abnormalities, left ventricular (LV) function, and spheric distortion were assessed by a quantitative software program. Results: We classified patients into 2 groups according to improvement in LV function after 4 mo of therapy. The groups consisted of 16 poor responders whose LV ejection fraction (LVEF) increased less than 10\% and 22 good responders whose LVEF increased by 10\% or more. The patient characteristics before therapy, including LV volume and LVEF, did not significantly differ between the 2 groups, but the size of the myocardial perfusion defect and spheric distortion were significantly greater in poor responders than in good responders. Conclusion: Gated SPECT, by allowing simultaneous assessment of perfusion, function and geometry, might be useful for predicting the response of patients with IDC to β-blocker therapy.}, issn = {0161-5505}, URL = {https://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/45/4/527}, eprint = {https://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/45/4/527.full.pdf}, journal = {Journal of Nuclear Medicine} }