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Published on: February 10, 2013
Relationship between cardiac metaiodobenzylguanidine uptake and hemodynamic, functional and neurohormonal parameters
P A de Milliano1, B L van Eck-Smit, P A van Zwieten
1Department of Cardiology, ziekenhuis Hilversum, Hilversum and the Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. pardemilliano@wxs.nl
Background:
Sympathetic activation plays a pivotal role in heart failure attributing to the disease process and symptoms of the patient. Myocardial sympathetic activity can be visualized using radioiodinated metaiodobenzylguanidine 123I-MIBG, a structural analogue of norepinephrine (NE).
Aim Of The Study:
We investigated whether a relation exists between myocardial MIBG uptake and different functional, hemodynamic and neurohormonal parameters in patients with chronic heart failure.
Methods And Results:
The study comprised 52 patients with stable congestive heart failure functional class II or III and left ventricular ejection fractions of <35%. The heart/mediastinum ratio (H/M ratio) was calculated to quantify myocardial MIBG uptake. A significant correlation was found between peak oxygen consumption and maximal exercise duration as exercise parameters and H/M ratio of MIBG (R, respectively, 0.36 and 0.4, P<0.05). From all other measured parameters, only plasma NE showed a significant correlation with the H/M ratio of MIBG.
Conclusion:
Cardiac sympathetic activity, as measured by myocardial MIBG uptake, is correlated with peak exercise parameters.
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