Background: The prognostic value of left ventricular dyssynchrony measured by gated single-photon emission computed tomography (GSPECT) myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) and its relationship to electrical dyssynchrony measured by QRS duration are incompletely understood. The aim of this study was therefore to examine the independent and incremental prognostic value of dyssynchrony in yet the largest group of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).
Methods and results: Patients presenting for GSPECT- MPI between July 1993 and May 1999 in normal sinus rhythm were identified from the Duke Nuclear Cardiology Databank and the Duke Databank for Cardiovascular Disease (N = 1244). After a median of 4.2 years, 336 deaths occurred. At 8 years, the Kaplan-Meier estimates of the probability of death were 34.0% among patients with a phase bandwidth <100° and 56.8% among those with a bandwidth ≥100°. After adjustment for standard clinical variables, QRS dyssynchrony was independently associated with death (Hazard Ratio (HR), per 10°: 1.092, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.048,1.139, P < .0001). Phase bandwidth was similarly associated with death after clinical adjustment (HR per 10°: 1.056, 95% CI 1.041,1.072, P < .0001). In clinically adjusted models examining QRS duration in addition to phase bandwidth, phase bandwidth had a stronger association with mortality. After accounting for left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), neither QRS duration nor phase bandwidth were statistically significant. Among patients with EF >35%, QRS duration and phase bandwidth together provided value above that provided by LVEF alone (P = 0.0181). When examining cardiovascular death, results were consistent with all-cause death.
Conclusions: Among patients with CAD, mechanical left ventricular dyssynchrony measured by GSPECT MPI has a stronger relationship with outcomes than electrical dyssynchrony measured by QRS duration. After adjustment for baseline characteristics and LVEF, neither mechanical nor electrical dyssynchrony is independently associated with all-cause death or cardiac death. Among patients with EF >35%, mechanical and electrical dyssynchrony together provided prognostic value above that afforded by LVEF.
Keywords: Single-photon emission computed tomography; dyssynchrony; ejection fraction; myocardial perfusion imaging; outcome; phase analysis.