RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Gated Myocardial SPECT to Predict Response to β-Blocker Therapy in Patients with Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy
JF Journal of Nuclear Medicine
JO J Nucl Med
FD Society of Nuclear Medicine
SP 527
OP 531
VO 45
IS 4
A1 Kazuki Fukuchi
A1 Yoshio Yasumura
A1 Keisuke Kiso
A1 Kohei Hayashida
A1 Kunio Miyatake
A1 Yoshio Ishida
YR 2004
UL http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/45/4/527.abstract
AB 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.