Prognostic Value of Left Ventricular Sphericity Indexes Using Gated Spect and Echocardiography in Heart Failure: A Prospective Study Publisher



Bigdelu L ; Masoudi T ; Kakhki VRD ; Poorzand H ; Ebrahimi N
Source: Iranian Journal of Nuclear Medicine Published:2026

Abstract

Introduction: Morphological remodeling of the heart during Heart failure (HF) can be detected by gated myocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (Gated SPECT) using left ventricular shape index (LVSI). This study aimed to investigate the prognostic value of LVSI measured by Gated SPECT and echocardiography in HF patients. Methods: This prospective study involved 96 patients referred for myocardial perfusion scans, divided into two groups: those with heart failure (HF) and those without. The study analyzed cardiac sphericity indexes, including end-diastolic and end-systolic LVSI and the Eccentricity index (EI). The LVSI index was also measured by echocardiography at the end of diastole. The patients were followed for one year to evaluate the occurrence of cardiac events and underwent echocardiography at the end of this period. Results: End-diastolic and end-systolic LVSI in the resting phase were 0.70±0.10 and 0.60±0.11 in the group of patients with HF, and 0.66±0.06 and 0.45±0.06 in the group of patients without heart failure, respectively. These values had a significant correlation with the similar index in echocardiography (p-value=0.001). In the group of HF patients, 20 people experienced cardiac events during one year of follow-up. However, there was no significant relationship between the values of LVSI measured by Gated SPECT and echocardiography and the incidence of cardiac events. Conclusion: Although the values of LVSI in patients with HF were higher compared to those without HF, the indexes of heart shape change did not significantly predict the one-year prognosis of HF patients. © 2026 The Authors. Published by Tehran University of Medical Sciences. This work is published as an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4). Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted, provided the original work is properly cited