Objective—To determine the clinical and prognostic value of identifying metabolic abnormalities of myocardial fatty acid metabolism in idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy using iodine-123 β-methyl-iodophenyl pentadecanoic acid (123I BMIPP).
Setting—Cardiac care division in national hospital.
Patients—32 consecutive patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy in whom both 123I BMIPP and thallium-201 myocardial single photon emission computed tomography were performed.
Methods—The uptake of each tracer was scored visually from 0 (normal) to 3 (defect) in 17 segments (eight basal, eight midventricular, and one apical). A total score for all 17 segments was compared with clinicopathological variables. Prognostic value of mismatches between the two tracers were also evaluated.
Results—The 123I BMIPP total score was correlated with pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (r = 0.68, p