Impaired cardiac sympathetic innervation assessed by MIBG activity has the greatest potential for predicting cardiac death and may be useful for identifying a threshold level for selecting patients at risk for death by heart failure, sudden cardiac death, and fatal myocardial infarction.

Left ventricular (LV) and right ventricular (RV) involvement in sarcoidosis must be firmly confirmed to determine patients’ prognosis. We examined whether myocardial perfusion images using technetium-99m single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) have a diagnostic benefit in the evaluation of biventricular involvement. Sixteen patients with sarcoidosis, aged 21–78 (54 ± 12) years old, 5 males and 11 females, complicated with cardiac disease (cardiac sarcoidosis, n = 6) including tachyarrhythmias of ventricular origin (n = 5), atrioventricular block (n = 4), and congestive heart failure (NYHA ≧ II, n = 1), were enrolled in this study. Myocardial SPECT using technetium-99m sestamibi or tetrofosmin was performed and semiquantitatively scored for comparison with 25 control subjects. Perfusion abnormalities were more frequently recognized in sarcoidosis (LV 5/16, 31% and RV 14/16, 88% vs. LV 0/25, 0% and RV 8/25, 32% in controls). LV involvement had a close correlation with atrioventricular block and with congestive heart failure, and multiple sites of RV involvement correlated with ventricular tachyarrhythmia of RV origin. Total number of defect segments were highest in cardiac sarcoidosis (18/30, 60% vs. 19/60, 32% in noncardiac sarcoidosis, and 11/150, 7% in controls, p = 0.0001), and semiquantitatively evaluated total LV and RV scores (ranging from 0 to 18) were higher than those of controls (15.1 ± 1.8 vs. 11.4 ± 3.0 in noncardiac sarcoidosis, and 9.0 ± 5.0 in cardiac sarcoidosis) and exhibited a significant positive linear correlation with the RV ejection fraction (y = 19.8 + 1.83x, r = 0.786, p = 0.001). Biventricular SPECT using technetium-99m is clinically useful for the noninvasive evaluation of both ventricular involvements in sarcoidosis.

SUMMARYPoor clinical outcomes for hemodialysis (HD) patients compared to non-HD patients after coronary intervention have been reported. Although coronary intervention using sirolimus-eluting stents (SESs) might be expected to reduce restenosis in HD patients, little is known about the efficacy of the SESs. The purpose of the present study was to compare the clinical and angiographic outcomes of HD patients with non-HD patients after SES implantation. The study population consisted of 170 consecutive patients (234 lesions) who had undergone successful coronary SES implantation. The patients were classified into 2 groups, an HD group (18 patients, 27 lesions) and a non-HD group (152 patients, 207 lesions). The incidence of any clinical event was significantly higher in the HD group than in the non-HD group (50.0% versus 12.5%, P < 0.0001). Target lesion revascularization was necessary in 6 patients (33.3%) in the HD group and in 7 patients (4.6%) in the non-HD group (P < 0.0001). The Cox proportional-hazards regression model on cardiac events identified HD patients (P = 0.0301, hazard ratio = 2.704) as an explanatory factor. Moreover, the Cox proportional-hazards regression model on target lesion revascularization identified HD (P = 0.0004, hazard ratio = 6.921) and in-stent restenosis lesion (P = 0.0293, hazard ratio = 3.323) as explanatory factors. The present study suggests that compared with non-HD patients, HD patients with coronary artery disease treated by SESs have a poorer clinical outcome. (Int Heart J 2007; 48: 689-700) Key words: Sirolimus-eluting stents, Hemodialysis, Clinical outcome HEMODIALYSIS (HD) patients are well known to be a high risk population for coronary artery disease. 1) Moreover, poor clinical outcomes compared to non-HD patients after coronary intervention have been reported. 2,3) Previous studies of sirolimus-eluting stents (SESs) compared with bare-metal stents (BMSs) in coronary artery disease have demonstrated a reduction in the incidence of cardiac events related to recurrent ischemia and lower rates of angiographic restenosis. 4-7)From the

SummaryBecause left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction is frequently the earliest indicator of LV dysfunction in patients with heart failure, the estimation of LV diastolic function is very important. On the other hand, electrocardiography (ECG)-gated technetium (Tc) -99m tetrofosmin single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) has been reported to be a useful method for evaluation of LV function. The objective of this study was to examine the usefulness of ECG-gated Tc-99m tetrofosmin SPECT in terms of estimation of cardiac diastolic function. Consecutive 145 patients underwent an ECG-gated Tc-99m tetrofosmin SPECT to estimate systolic and diastolic LV function, and were compared with those evaluated by ultrasound echocardiography (UCG). LV end-diastolic volume, LV end-systolic volume, and LV ejection fraction values obtained by quantitative gated SPECT (QGS) showed significant positive linear correlations with those obtained by UCG. All 145 patients were classified into 3 groups according to diastolic function estimated by UCG. The first-third mean filling rate (1/3 MFR) and peak filling rate (PFR) that revealed the LV diastolic function of the group B (normal systolic function and mild diastolic dysfunction) patients (1.01 ± 0.35, 1.85 ± 0.57) were both significantly lower than those of the group A (normal systolic and diastolic function) patients (1.43 ± 0.37, 2.43 ± 0.56). The 1/3 MFR and PFR of the group C (moderate ~ severe systolic and diastolic dysfunction) patients (0.47 ± 0.34, 0.92 ± 0.62) were also significantly lower than those of the group A and B patients. QGS may be a useful method for the evaluation of cardiac systolic and diastolic function, especially in patients with normal systolic function and diastolic dysfunction. (Int Heart J 2013; 54: 212-215) Key words: Cardiac function, QGS, First-third mean filling rate, Peak filling rate P revious studies have demonstrated that cardiac systolic (left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF)) and diastolic (mitral inflow velocity pattern and/or mitral deceleration time, and/or pulmonary vein inflow velocity pattern) functions evaluated by ultrasound echocardiography (UCG) were predictors of the clinical outcome.1,2) On the other hand, previous studies have also demonstrated that approximately 50% of patients with heart failure present with a normal LV systolic function.3) LV diastolic dysfunction is frequently the earliest indicator of LV dysfunction in patients with heart failure. Therefore, the estimation of LV diastolic function is very important. Recently, electrocardiography (ECG)-gated technetium (Tc)-99m tetrofosmin single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) has been reported to be a useful method for evaluation of LV systolic and diastolic functions. 4,5) The purpose of the present study was, therefore, to examine the usefulness of ECG-gated Tc-99m tetrofosmin SPECT in terms of estimation of cardiac function, especially, LV diastolic function. In order to examine this, we compared cardiac systolic and diastolic functions eva...

Cardiac systolic (left ventricular ejection fraction) and diastolic (mitral inflow velocity pattern and/or mitral deceleration time) function were reported as predictors of clinical outcome or left ventricular remodeling in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Recently, a new index (Doppler-derived index combining systolic and diastolic myocardial performance; Tei index) for combined systolic and diastolic ventricular function has been reported to be a useful and convenient method for evaluation of global ventricular function. We therefore investigated the usefulness of the Tei index by echocardiography for evaluation of infarct size and clinical outcome in patients with AMI treated by successful primary angioplasty. We analyzed 10 age-matched control subjects and 43 consecutive patients with first AMI treated by successful primary angioplasty. The Tei index of the AMI patients was significantly greater than that of the control subjects (0.630 +/- 0.106 vs 0.375 +/- 0.036, P << 0.0001). Also, the Tei index showed a significant positive correlation with peak creatine kinase values and (99m)Tc-tetrofosmin scores. Moreover, multiple logistic regression analysis showed that the Tei index >>0.70 ( P = 0.0313, odds ratio = 14.14) was the only significant explanatory factor for cardiac death or developed congestive heart failure. The Tei index combining systolic and diastolic myocardial performance reflects infarct size and might be a predictor of clinical outcome in patients with AMI treated by successful primary angioplasty.