Statin therapy reduces enhanced cardiac sympathetic nerve activity (CSNA) in patients with heart disease, and prevents left ventricular (LV) remodeling in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients. We sought to evaluate the effects of statin therapy on CSNA, as evaluated by I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) scintigraphy, and LV remodeling in CHF patients. This study was sub-analysis of our previous r...

As observed by other authors, normal adrenal medullary tissue frequently gives an apparently positive meta-iodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) scan in cases studied using 123I-MIBG and less frequently 131I-MIBG. The aim of this study was to assess the usefulness of a scoring system, based on different uptakes of the radiopharmaceutical, to improve the accuracy of 123I-MIBG scintigraphy in patients with ...

AIMS It has been reported that carvedilol improves cardiac sympathetic nerve activity (CSNA) in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). However, the influence of carvedilol on cardiac (123)I-meta-iodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) scintigraphic findings and left ventricular (LV) remodelling has not been determined in DCM patients. METHODS AND RESULTS In 30 patients with DCM and 10 normal controls...

OBJECTIVES We sought to prospectively compare the prognostic value of cardiac iodine-123 (I-123) metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) imaging with that of heart rate variability (HRV) in patients with mild-to-moderate chronic heart failure (HF). BACKGROUND Cardiac I-123 MIBG imaging, which reflects cardiac adrenergic nerve activity, provides prognostic information on chronic HF patients. Reduced HR...

UNLABELLED Radiolabeled metaiodobenzylguanidine (mIBG) is a highly sensitive and specific marker for detecting neuroblastoma. A semiquantitative mIBG score (Curie score [CS]) was assessed for utility as a prognostic indicator for a cohort of patients with high-risk metastatic disease. METHODS mIBG scans from 280 patients with mIBG-avid, stage 4 neuroblastoma enrolled on the Children's Oncolog...

BACKGROUND Cardiac and systemic autonomic nervous function may be impaired in patients with COPD. Few reports, however, have described sympathetic nervous function of the left ventricle (LV) in COPD patients. STUDY OBJECTIVE To assess the LV sympathetic nervous function in patients with COPD using (123)I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) imaging of the heart. DESIGN Prospective comparison of (...

UNLABELLED Iodine-123-metaiodobenzylguanidine (123I-MIBG) has been used to assess the integrity and function of the cardiac sympathetic nervous system in patients with heart failure. Heart-type fatty acid binding protein (H-FABP) is released into the circulation when the myocardium is injured, and H-FABP has been recently used as a novel marker for the diagnosis of ongoing myocardial damage. ...

BACKGROUND In our previous SMC NB-2004 study of patients with high-risk neuroblastomas, which incorporated total-body irradiation (TBI) with second high-dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation (HDCT/auto-SCT), the survival rate was encouraging; however, short- and long-term toxicities were significant. In the present SMC NB-2009 study, only TBI was replaced with 131I-meta-iod...

PURPOSE Iodine-131-metaiodobenzylguanidine ((131)I-MIBG) has been shown to be active against refractory neuroblastoma. The primary toxicity of (131)I-MIBG is myelosuppression, which might necessitate autologous hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (AHSCT). The goal of this study was to determine risk factors for myelosuppression and the need for AHSCT after (131)I-MIBG treatment. PATIENTS ...

OBJECTIVE Molecular imaging of nigrostriatal dopamine transporters (DAT) and sympathetic cardiac innervation with single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) are useful tools for differentiating idiopathic Parkinson disease (PD) from other degenerative parkinsonian syndromes (non-PD). Nevertheless, these modalities are often insufficient for achieving a definite diagnosis. The aims of th...