Adverse Cardiac Events in Cardiac Sarcoidosis Prediction by I-betamethyl-p-iodophenyl-pentadecanoic Acid Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography and Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Late Gadolinium Enhancement.

Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) on cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging can help detect myocardial damage. I-betamethyl-p-iodophenyl-pentadecanoic acid single-photon emission computed tomography (BMIPP-SPECT) was developed to evaluate fatty acid metabolism and has been reported to help detect myocardial damage in cardiac sarcoidosis (CS). We analyzed data from CMR-LGE and performed BMIPP-SPECT in patients with CS taking prednisolone and investigated the association of BMIPP-SPECT with LGE as a prognostic factor in CS. Patients with CS who underwent BMIPP-SPECT and CMR-LGE at the time of diagnosis within 2 months were classified into those with and without a major adverse cardiac event (MACE). Total BMIPP-SPECT defect score (BDS) and LGE extent score (LES) were used to estimate myocardial damage. The relation between BDS and LES was explored using Pearson's correlation coefficient. Their ability to predict MACEs was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier analysis. Medical data of 45 patients were analyzed retrospectively (mean follow-up, 4.5 years). BDS and LES were significantly correlated (p <0.0001). BDS was significantly greater for the group with MACE than that without MACE (p = 0.0008). LES of patients with MACE was significantly greater than those without MACE (p = 0.0045). Patients with BDS ≥16 had a significantly higher MACE rate than those with BDS <16 (p = 0.0029). The group with LES ≥9 was significantly associated with MACE (p = 0.0098). In conclusion, BDS reflected myocardial damage similar to that detected by CMR-LGE and was a predictive marker of MACE in patients with CS. BMIPP-SPECT may help predict the prognosis of patients with CS who cannot undergo CMR-LGE.