Cardiac transthyretin amyloidosis 99m Tc-DPD SPECT correlates with strain echocardiography and biomarkers

Purpose Hereditary transthyretin-amyloid amyloidosis (ATTRv) is an underdiagnosed condition commonly manifesting as congestive heart failure. Recently, scintigraphy utilizing DPD as a tracer was shown to identify ATTRv and wild-type ATTR cardiomyopathy. The aim of this study was to determine the value of quantified scintigraphy utilizing 99m Tc-3,3-diphosphono-1,2-propanodicarboxylic acid (DPD) single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/CT, and to correlate its uptake with well-established cardiac functional parameters. Methods Forty-eight patients with genetically verified ATTRv type-A fibril composition, positive 99m Tc-DPD SPECT/CT, were retrospectively analyzed. Manual mapping of volumes of interest (VOIs) on DPD SPECT/CT examinations was used to quantify heart uptake. DPD mean and maximum uptake together with a calculated DPD-based amyloid burden (DPD load ) was correlated with echocardiographic strain values and cardiac biomarkers. Results Statistically significant correlations were seen in VOIs between DPD uptakes and the corresponding echocardiographic strain values. Furthermore, DPD load had a strong correlation with echocardiographic strain parameters and also correlated with biomarkers troponin T and logarithmic NT-ProBNP. Conclusions In patients with ATTRv cardiomyopathy, DPD SPECT/CT measures the amyloid distribution and provides information on cardiac amyloid load. DPD amyloid load correlates with functional cardiac parameters.