The characteristics of myocardial fatty acid metabolism in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) were investigated by myocardial imaging with beta-methyl-p-[123I]iodophenyl-pentadecanoic acid (BMIPP) in 16 patients with DCM, 8 patients with hypertensive heart failure (HHF), and 11 normal subjects. Rest myocardial imaging with BMIPP and 201Tl was performed on another day. The index of myocardial BMIPP uptake, or uptake ratio, was calculated from the percentage uptakes of BMIPP and 201Tl. The index of inhomogeneity of intramyocardial isotope distribution was calculated as the coefficient of variation of BMIPP and 201Tl. The uptake ratio was significantly lower in DCM and HHF patients than in normal subjects (p < 0.01). Uptake ratio correlated well with fractional shortening (r = 0.76, p < 0.01), and left ventricular ejection fraction (r = 0.58, p < 0.01). Although uptake ratio was not different between DCM and HHF patients, defects in BMIPP imaging appeared more frequently in DCM (69%) than in HHF (38%) patients. Furthermore, the extent of the defect in BMIPP imaging in DCM patients was larger than that in 201Tl imaging (p < 0.05), but in HHF patients the extent of the defects in both methods was similar. The coefficient of variation of BMIPP in DCM patients was greater than those in HHF patients and in normal subjects, but those of 201Tl were not different between the three groups. The coefficient of variation of BMIPP in DCM patients correlated well with serum norepinephrine level (r = 0.57, p < 0.01) and atrial natriuretic peptide (r = 0.77, p < 0.01).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)