Evaluation of the relationship between cardiovascular risk factors and left ventricular diastolic function parameters in myocardial perfusion scan

Introduction: Heart failure is an important life-threatening problem, with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction as a major initial pathophysiologic process and identification and treatment of related risk factors lead to better prognosis. Gated single-photon emission computed tomography (G-SPECT) myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is a feasible tool to evaluate the diastolic function. The aim of this study was to assess the correlation of cardiovascular risk factors with the diastolic function parameters in G-SPECT MPI. Methods: This is a cross-sectional retrospective study including 274 patients with normal ejection fraction (EF) and no previous history of heart disease. Demographic data and history of cardiovascular risk factors were collected. Correlation of quantitative functional parameters of G-SPECT including diastolic indices (peak filling rate (PFR), time to peak filling rate (TTPF), mean filling rate at the first third of diastolic phase (MFR/3), and second peak filling rate (PFR2)) with cardiovascular factors was studied using SPSS software. Results: In this study, 274 patients with a mean age of 56 years (with 172 females) were evaluated. There was a significant relationship between age and all diastolic parameters. Diabetic patients had a significantly lower TTPF, and hypertensive patients revealed a significantly lower MFR/3. Hyperlipidemia and chronic kidney disease were not associated with any diastolic parameters. PFR was significantly lower in smokers, and family history had a significant relationship with PFR2. Conclusion: Most of CAD risk factors, except for CKD and hyperlipidemia, had a significant relationship with at least one parameter of the left ventricular diastolic function in G-SPECT MPI.