Assessment of cardiac sympathetic nerve abnormalities by ¹²³I-MIBG (metaiodobenzylguanidine) myocardial scintigraphy in diabetic patients undergoing hemodialysis

Abstract

We compared cardiac sympathetic nerve abnormalities in patients hemodialyzed because of diabetic nephropathy (DN, n=18) and chronic glomerulonephritis (CGN, n=21). ¹²³I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) myocardial scintigraphy was performed in this study. SPECT and anterior planar myocardial images were obtained 15 minutes after (initial images) and 4 hours after (delayed images) an injection of MIBG. The following results were obtained: (1) SPECT showed more defects in DN than in CGN. (2) The heart to superior mediastinum uptake ratio (H/M) was lower in DN than in CGN.
These findings suggest that myocardial uptake of MIBG in DN is significantly impaired because of cardiac sympathetic nerve abnormalities. These abnormalities may affect the prognosis in DN.