¹²³I-meta-iodobenzylguanidine Sympathetic Nerve Function Indices Derived from Planar Images

Abstract

Innervation imaging using ¹²³I-meta-iodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) has been applied mainly to imaging heart failure in nuclear cardiology. The most popular quantitation tools comprise the heart-to-mediastinum (H/M) ratio and the washout rate (WR) derived from anterior planar images. Although the method of calculation is simple, some cautions are essential for region-of-interest setting. In addition, camera-collimator differences should be considered for the H/M ratio, and background and time-decay correction is needed to precisely determine the WR. Since the H/M ratio and WR have been applied to most diagnostic and prognostic studies of heart failure, understanding these parameters is important for clinical applications of ¹²³I-MIBG.