Etiology and pathophysiology of new-onset heart failure: evaluation by myocardial perfusion imaging.

OBJECTIVE: The IMAGING in Heart Failure study was a prospective, multi-national trial designed to explore the role of single-photon emission computed tomographic (SPECT) myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) as an initial investigative strategy in patients hospitalized with new-onset heart failure. METHODS: We recruited 201 patients (age 65.3 +/- 14.5 years, 43% women) hospitalized with their first episode of heart failure. Rest/stress gated SPECT Tc-99m sestamibi MPI was performed during or within 2 weeks of the index hospitalization, in addition to standard care. RESULTS: SPECT MPI revealed a broad range of ejection fractions with preserved systolic function in 36% of patients. Forty-one percent of patients had normal perfusion. In the remaining patients, perfusion abnormalities were predominantly due to prior myocardial infarction, with extensive ischemia seen only in 6%. Among patients who underwent coronary angiography, SPECT performance characteristics revealed excellent negative predictive value (96%) for extensive coronary artery disease (CAD). In multivariable analyses, the extent of perfusion abnormality and advancing age predicted the presence of extensive CAD. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary data derived from a non-randomized observational cohort suggest potential diagnostic utility of MPI for ischemic LV dysfunction in new-onset HF, and sets the stage for a prospective randomized study to confirm these findings.