[Radionuclide assessment of heart failure]

Radionuclide assessment of heart failure was reviewed in this paper. The measurement of left ventricular function has been established by using gated blood poor scan. In most cases, left ventricular ejection fraction was below 35% in heart failure. The therapeutic effect of beta-blocker was also evaluated by quantitative sector analysis from gated blood pool scan. In addition, the uptake of 111In-antimyosin Fab was observed at damaged myocardium in dilated cardiomyopathy. 123I-MIBG which reflects sympathetic nerve activity showed decreased uptake in heart failure. It was demonstrated that cardiac MIBG imaging had powerful prognostic value in patients with heart failure. In conclusion, radionuclide assessment will contribute to the evaluation of severity and prognosis of heart failure.