September 21, 2023

Higher cardiac MIBG washout rates predict sudden cardiac death in CHF

A study from 2009 found that CHF patients who experienced sudden cardiac death had significantly higher cardiac MIBG washout rates than those who survived. The crossover point between the groups was 33.5%. Simply reporting group means and standard deviations does not adequately characterize the data. Providing reference values like the crossover point and odds ratios at key values is more useful. This allows clinicians to determine better if a patient’s individual MIBG washout rate indicates low or high risk. Washout rates between 30-36% are essentially uninformative. Rates ≤27% indicate >2:1 odds of being low risk. Rates ≥40% indicate >2:1 odds of being high risk.

Citation: Heston TF, Wahl RL (2009). Clinical Significance of Iodine-123 Metaiodobenzylguanidine Cardiac Imaging. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2009;54(6):575-576. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2009.02.082