Evaluation of the effect of radionuclide myocardial perfusion imaging on the treatment of dilated cardiomyopathy with trimetazidine

Objective Evaluation of the efficacy of trimetazidine (TMZ) in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) using nuclear myocardial perfusion imaging. Methods The 105 patients diagnosed of DCM in Henan Provincial People's Hospital from January 2015 to December 2017 were randomly divided into control group (n=46) and TMZ group (n=59). Besides conventional therapies for DCM patients in both groups for 6 months, the patients in treatment group were treated with TMZ 20 mg tid. Before and after treatment, myocardial perfusion imaging was carried out to compare left ventricular function between both groups, referring to 6 minutes walking test (6MWT) and the level of NT-proBNP in serum. Results After treatment, left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESV), left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LVEDV) and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) were significantly improved compared with those before treatment in each group; the 6 minutes walking distance was increased compared with before treatment; the level of NT-proBNP in serum was lower than that before treatment (both P<0.05). Furthermore, After the treatment, the TMZ group improved more significantly than the control group [LVESV: (82.28±29.38) ml vs. (100.50±37.34) ml, t=3.785, P=0.006; LVEDV: (142.29±41.40) ml vs. (162.91±37.19) ml, t=1.872, P=0.032; LVEF: 47.08%±8.52% vs. 43.17%±7.22%, t=1.982, P=0.02; NT-proBNP: (1 202.48±503.28) pg/ml vs. (1 700.66±600.31) pg/ml, t=4.625, P=0.007; 6MWT: (446.80±60.20) m vs. (408.04±65.75) m, t=2.638, P=0.028]. Conclusions For patients with dilated cardiomyopathy, radionuclide myocardial perfusion imaging may be used to evaluate the efficacy of trimetazidine on cardiac function and exercise tolerance. Key words: Trimetazidine; Cardiomyopathy, dilated; Myocardial perfusion imaging