[Value of 123I-BMIPP scintigraphy in patients with ischemic heart disease: comparison with exercise 201Tl SPECT].

To evaluate 123I labeled beta-methyl-branched fatty acid (BMIPP) myocardial uptake at rest in the segment with and without stress induced ischemia in patients with coronary artery disease, 123I-beta-methyl-branched fatty acid myocardial scintigraphy was performed at rest and was compared with the findings of stress-reinjection 201Tl myocardial scintigraphy in 31 patients with coronary artery disease. In 159 ischemic myocardial segments, equally decreased uptake on both reinjection 201Tl and fatty acid images was observed in 64 segments, more severely decreased uptake of fatty acid in 76 segments, and more severely decreased uptake of reinjection thallium in 19 segments. On the other hand, in 53 non-reversible defects, each patterns was observed in 41, 3, and 9 segments respectively. When comparing the ischemic segments with more reduced uptake of fatty acid than reinjection thallium (Group 1) and the ischemic segments with equally or less reduced fatty acid uptake than reinjection thallium (Group 2), wall motion was more severely impaired in Group 1 than in Group 2 (severe hypo- to dyskinesis was present in 32 of 54 segments in group 1 and in 21 of 75 segments in group 2, p < 0.005). In conclusion, in patients with coronary artery disease, resting fatty acid uptake was frequently more reduced than reinjection 201Tl in the segments with stress induced ischemia and wall motion was more impaired in these segments. BMIPP myocardial imaging may provide information on metabolic alterations at rest independent of perfusion abnormalities in patients with coronary artery disease.