Assessment of left ventricular mass and geometry by cardiac single photon emission computed tomography

Background: Left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy is an independent predictor of increased morbidity and mortality. However, whether assessment of LV mass and geometry by cardiac single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is feasible remains unclear. Material/Methods: We compared LV mass and geometry measured by cardiac SPECT to standard echocardiography in thirty consecutive patients (female 73%n mean age 22.64±17 years) who had both cardiac SPECT and echocardiography done less than 1 week apart. Results: There was good correlation between the LV mass (r = 0.73, p < 0.001) and relative wall thickness (r = 0.50, p < 0.01) derived by cardiac SPECT to those of standard echocardiography. Using Bland-Altman method, the 95% confident interval of agreement between cardiac SPECT and standard echocardiography ranged from -52 g (5^th percentile) to 124 g (95^th percentile, mean difference = 36±45) for LV mass and from -1 (5^th percentile) to -0.6 (95^th percentile, mean difference = -0.8±0.1) for relative wall thickness. Conclusions: Assessment of left ventricular mass and geometry using cardiac SPECT is feasible and may provide prognostic information beyond measurement of perfusion and function.