Impact of cardiac reverse remodeling after cardiac resynchronization therapy assessed by myocardial perfusion imaging on ventricular arrhythmia

• Published in: Journal of nuclear cardiology Vol. 24; no. 4; pp. 1282 - 1288
• Main Authors: Chiang, Kuo-Feng, Hung, Guang-Uei, Tsai, Shih-Chung, Cheng, Chien-Ming, Chang, Yu-Cheng, Lin, Wan-Yu, Hsieh, Yu-Cheng, Wu, Tsu-Juey, Chen, Shih-Ann, Huang, Jin-Long, Liao, Ying-Chieh, Chen, Ji
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Elsevier Inc 01.08.2017; Springer International Publishing; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aged; Cardiac arrhythmia; Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy; Cardiology; Electrocardiography; Female; HAZARDS; HEART FAILURE; Humans; Imaging; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS; Myocardial Perfusion Imaging - methods; Myocardium - pathology; Nuclear Medicine; Original Article; PATIENTS; phase analysis; PHASE STUDIES; Proportional Hazards Models; Radiology; RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE; REGRESSION ANALYSIS; reverse remodeling; Risk Factors; Tachycardia, Ventricular - diagnostic imaging; Tachycardia, Ventricular - etiology; Tachycardia, Ventricular - therapy; Ventricular Fibrillation - diagnostic imaging; Ventricular Fibrillation - etiology; Ventricular Fibrillation - therapy; Heart failure; PSD; ΔQRSd_on; ERR; Pre-iQRSd; cardiac resynchronization therapy; phase analysis; reverse remodeling; PHB; MRR; ΔECHO_EF; LBBB; Post-iQRSd; ΔiQRSd_off
• ISSN: 1071-3581; 1532-6551; 1532-6551
• DOI: 10.1007/s12350-016-0447-x

Although cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) has been a useful treatment of heart failure, patients with CRT are still in risk of sudden cardiac death due to ventricular arrhythmia. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of cardiac reverse remodeling after CRT on the prevalence of ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation (VT/VF). Forty-one heart failure patients (26 men, age 66 ± 10 years), who were implanted with CRT for at least 12 months, were enrolled. All patients received myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) under CRT pacing to evaluate left ventricle (LV) function, dyssynchrony, and scar. VT/VF episodes during the follow-up period after MPI were recorded by the CRT devices. Sixteen patients (N = 16/41, 39%) were found to have VT/VF. Multivariate Cox regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that five risk factors were significant predictors of VT/VF, including increased left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF) by ≤7% after CRT, low LVEF after CRT (≤30%), change of intrinsic QRS duration (iQRSd) by ≤7 ms, wide iQRSd after CRT (≥121 ms), and high systolic dyssynchrony after CRT (phase standard deviation ≥45.6°). For those patients with all of the 5 risk factors, 85.7% or more developed VT/VF. The characteristics of cardiac reverse remodeling after CRT as assessed by MPI are associated with the prevalence of ventricular arrhythmia.