[Clinical significance of 123I-BMIPP myocardial SPECT].

123I-BMIPP is a radioiodinated branched chain fatty acid analog, showing high accumulation as well as prolonged retention in the myocardium. Therefore, it is used as a metabolic imaging agent suitable for myocardial SPECT. After 123I-BMIPP is taken in the myocardium, it remains there mainly as a storage type fatty acid of triglyceride, and it shows different behavior by the stage of cardiac disease. Usually, we evaluate metabolic findings by early imaging (20 minutes) after intravenous injection of 123I-BMIPP, however, some times washout or fill in are seen in the case of myocardial infarction or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy by delayed imaging (after 4 hours). The mismatch of 201TlCl and 123I-BMIPP are useful for the diagnosis of stunned myocardium or evaluation of prognosis. However, behavior of 123I-BMIPP in myocardium is known still not completely. Therefore clinical significance of this examination is thought to be clarified by the stock of cases of various heart diseases.