Left ventricular mass (LV mass) is an independent prognostic indicator of cardiovascular complications, and its regression due to therapy translates to positive clinical outcomes. Good correlation of LV mass between qualitative ECG-gated SPECT (OGS) and echocardiography has been reported, and this study aims to verify if such relationship applies in the local setting. Forty-five consecutive patients with normal myocardial perfusion SPECT and recent plain echocardiograms done in the same institution were retrospectively analyzed. Results show a significant correlation (y = 0.296x + 75.962, r = 0.491, p = 0.001) between the LV mass of the two imaging modalities, which was also observed in the TI-201  group (y= 0.256x + 80.325, r_=_0.442, p = 0.006), but not in the Tc-99m sestamibi group (y= 0.402x + 63.456, r_=_0.443, p = 0.272). The mean LV mass by OGS (122.0 ± 26.9) is significantly smaller compared with the mean LV mass by echo cardiography (155.5 ± 44.6), and the difference between the two procedures (mean ± SD: 39.7 ± 32.6, p<0.001) are significantly different among all subiects, and in the TI-201 and Tc-99m sestamibi groups. In conclusion, the LV mass generated by OGS correlates with echocardiographic estimations, but are statistically different, with OGS significantly underestimating the echo cardiographic values. Age, sex and BMI do not influence the LV mass discrepancy between the two imaging modalities, but the presence of soft tissue attenuation artifacts tend to decrease the LV mass generated by OGS, contributing to further LV mass disparity.

Human ; Male ; Female ; Aged ; Middle Aged ; Artifacts ; Body Mass Index ; Echocardiography ; Electrocardiography ; Heart Diseases ; Retrospective Studies ; Technetium Tc 99m Sestamibi ; Tomography, Emission-computed, Single-photon