Impact of Hypertension on the Phase Analysis Parameters of Gated Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography Myocardial Perfusion Imaging

Background: We sought to evaluate the association between hypertension (HTN) and left ventricular (LV) mechanical synchrony parameters derived via the phase analysis of gated single-photon emission computed tomography (GSPECT) myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). Methods: Ninety-nine patients with no known coronary heart disease (CHD) who underwent GSPECT MPI and had normal resting and post-stress scan with a recent normal echocardiographic examination and a positive history of HTN were recruited. The gated images were analyzed by Cedar-Sinai's quantitative GSPECT. The global and regional LV mechanical synchrony indices-including phase histogram bandwidth (PHB), phase standard deviation (PSD), and entropy-were derived and compared with the results of the control group, which had previously been defined with the same protocol for a group of 100 patients with a low likelihood for CHD. Results: Comparisons between the study and control groups revealed that neither global nor regional wall-based indices for PHB, PSD, and entropy were significantly different between the 2 groups (P> 0.05), whether or not HTN was accompanied by comorbid diabetes. Congruent with the control group, a significant difference was detected between the global LV phase parameters of the 2 genders (P<0.05). Conclusions: HTN does not intrinsically have a significant impact on the mechanical synchrony indices of GSPECT MPI.