title: Long-term course and cardiac sympathetic nerve activity in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the relation between regional myocardial sympathetic nerve activity and the electrocardiographic and cardiac functional changes in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective study to compare the findings of myocardial scintigraphy with iodine-123 metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) and the serial electrocardiographic changes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Myocardial scintigraphy was performed with iodine-123 MIBG and thallium-201 and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in the division of nuclear medicine of Kanazawa University Hospital. Both SPECT studies were performed within a week.
  
  
  METHODS
  22 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy classified according to their serial electrocardiographic changes--namely, 15 patients with an increase in or the appearance of a negative T wave (group A) and seven patients with a conduction disturbance or a decrease in or disappearance of the negative T wave (group B). The mean follow up period was 45 (range 12-143) months.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Group B showed a high rate of decreased activity or defects in MIBG uptake compared with group A (p less than 0.005). The areas of decreased activity or defects corresponded with the hypertrophied portion of the left ventricular wall. Although the early myocardial uptake (MIBG: thallium ratio) was similar in both groups, the mean (SD) MIBG clearance rate was significantly higher (p less than 0.05) in group B (0.25 (0.17)) than in group A (0.10 (0.15)).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Abnormalities of regional myocardial sympathetic nerve activity may be important in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and suspected progression of myocardial damage.
authors.affiliation: Second Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sugihara
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kita
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Horita
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Taki
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Takeda
mesh_terms: D019797:3-Iodobenzylguanidine; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002312:Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004452:Echocardiography; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006321:Heart / Q000294:innervation* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007462:Iodobenzenes; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013997:Time Factors; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
chemical_list: D007462:Iodobenzenes; D019797:3-Iodobenzylguanidine