ABSTRACT
PURPOSE--To assess in a consecutive series of patients, the diagnostic accuracy of dipyridamole echocardiography and to compare its prognostic power with that from other tests. METHODS--Seventy eight patients prospectively were underwent to dipyridamole echocardiography (DET) and coronary arteriography for diagnostic and post-infarction investigation. The majority was underwent to treadmill stress test and Tc99MIBI-dipyridamole planar myocardial scintigraphy. Eleven variables with possible prognostic importance were analyzed in a stepwise model to identify independent predictors of events. RESULTS--Sensitivity and specificity for the presence of coronary artery disease (in non-M patients) and multivessel disease (in post-MI patients) were, respectively, 44, 91, 53 and 88. Mean follow-up was 21 +/- 9 months, during which there were four deaths, four unstable angina episodes, four nonfatal myocardial infarctions and eight revascularization procedures. By multivariate analysis, the only independent predictor of events was the change in wall motion score index from rest to peak stress. CONCLUSION--DET is a valuable alternative to exercise stress test and myocardial perfusion scintigraphy. Semiquantitative estimation of ischemic area during pharmacological stress is an important prognostic marker.