Prediction of long-term (> 10 year) cardiovascular outcomes in heart transplant recipients: Value of stress technetium-99m tetrofosmin myocardial perfusion imaging.

BACKGROUND: Myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) using single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is useful in the evaluation of cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) in heart transplant (HTx) recipients. The current study evaluated the long-term prognostic value of stress SPECT MPI for predicting all-cause mortality and cardiac events in HTx recipients. METHODS: The study population consisted of 166 HTx recipients (mean age 54 ± 10 years, 84% male) who underwent exercise or dobutamine stress 99mTc-tetrofosmin SPECT MPI for the assessment of CAV. An abnormal SPECT MPI was defined as the presence of a fixed or a reversible perfusion defect. Endpoints were all-cause mortality, cardiac mortality, and non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI). RESULTS: MPI abnormalities were detected in 55 patients (33%), including fixed defects in 28 patients (17%), partially reversible in 17 patients (10%), and completely reversible defects in 10 patients (6%). During a median follow-up of 12.8 years (range 0-15, mean follow-up 9.5 years), 109 (66%) patients died (all-cause mortality), of which 67 (40%) were due to cardiac causes. A total of 5 (3%) patients experienced a non-fatal MI. HTx recipients with a normal stress 99mTc-tetrofosmin SPECT MPI had a significantly better prognosis as compared with those with an abnormal study, up to 5 years after the initial test. The presence of a reversible perfusion defect was a significant predictor of all-cause mortality, cardiac mortality, and major cardiac events, during the entire follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS: Stress 99mTc-tetrofosmin SPECT MPI provides valuable prognostic information for the prediction of long-term outcome in HTx recipients. Patients with a normal stress 99mTc-tetrofosmin SPECT MPI have a significantly better prognosis as compared with those with an abnormal study, up to 5 years after initial testing.

Prediction of 14-year cardiovascular outcomes by dobutamine stress 99mTc-tetrofosmin myocardial perfusion SPECT in elderly patients unable to perform exercise testing.

BACKGROUND: Dobutamine stress myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) is a useful alternative for the evaluation of coronary artery disease (CAD) in elderly patients who are unable to perform an exercise stress test. However, data on the long-term prognostic value of stress MPI in elderly patients are lacking. Therefore, this study evaluated the long-term prognostic value of dobutamine stress MPI in elderly patients unable to perform an exercise test. METHODS: The study population consisted of 247 elderly patients (mean age 71 ± 5 years) who underwent dobutamine stress single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) MPI. An abnormal SPECT study was defined as the presence of fixed and/or reversible perfusion defects. A summed stress score (SSS) was obtained to estimate the extent and severity of perfusion defects. End points during follow-up were all-cause mortality, cardiac mortality, and nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI). RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 14 years (range 12-16), 168 (68%) patients died (all-cause mortality), of which 56 (23%) were due to cardiac causes. Nonfatal MI occurred in 19 (8%) patients. Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that MPI provided optimal risk stratification in patients with normal and abnormal MPI. Multivariable analysis identified an abnormal MPI as a strong significant predictor of all-cause mortality and cardiac events. A multivariable analysis also revealed that a reversible defect and SSS were strong long-term predictors of cardiac mortality and hard cardiac events. CONCLUSION: Dobutamine stress 99mTc-tetrofosmin SPECT provides incremental prognostic information for the prediction of long-term cardiovascular outcomes in elderly patients, unable to perform exercise testing. Dobutamine stress MPI is useful in risk classifying elderly patients.

Cardiac stress imaging for the prediction of very long-term outcomes: Dobutamine stress echocardiography or dobutamine 99mTc-sestamibi SPECT?

BACKGROUND: Both dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) and myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) using single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) are frequently used for cardiac risk stratification. The long-term relative prognostic value of these modalities has not been studied. Therefore, this study evaluated the long-term prognostic value of DSE compared to MPI in patients unable to perform exercise testing. METHODS: This prospective, single center study included 301 patients (mean age 59 ± 12 years, 56% men) unable to perform exercise tests who underwent DSE and dobutamine stress 99mTc-sestamibi MPI. End points during follow-up were all-cause mortality, cardiac mortality, and nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI). Univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to identify independent predictors of outcome. The probability of survival was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: A total of 182 patients (60%) had an abnormal DSE and 198 (66%) patients had an abnormal MPI. The agreement between DSE and MPI was 82% (κ = 0.62). During a median follow-up of 14 years (range 5-18), 172 deaths (57%) occurred, of which 72 (24%) were due to cardiac causes. Nonfatal MI occurred in 46 patients (15%). The multivariable analysis demonstrated that an abnormal DSE was a significant predictor of cardiac mortality (HR 2.35, 95% CI [1.17-4.73]) and hard cardiac events (HR 2.11, 95% CI [1.25-3.57]). Also, an abnormal MPI result was a significant predictor of cardiac mortality (HR 3.03, 95% CI [1.33-6.95]) and hard cardiac events (HR 2.06, 95% CI [1.12-3.79]). CONCLUSIONS: DSE and MPI are comparable in predicting long-term cardiac mortality and hard cardiac events in patients unable to perform exercise testing.

Ischemia burden on stress SPECT MPI predicts long-term outcomes after revascularization in stable coronary artery disease.

BACKGROUND: It is not entirely clear whether ischemia burden on stress single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) effectively identifies patients who have a long-term benefit from coronary revascularization. METHODS: The study population consisted of 719 patients with ischemia on stress SPECT. Early coronary revascularization was defined as percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary artery bypass grafting ≤90 days after SPECT. Patients who underwent late revascularization (>90 days after SPECT) were excluded (n = 164). RESULTS: Of the 538 patients (73% men, mean age 59.8 ± 11 years), 348 patients had low ischemia burden (<3 ischemic segments) and 190 patients had moderate to high ischemia burden (≥3 ischemic segments). A total of 76 patients underwent early revascularization. During a median follow-up of 12 years (range 4-17), 283 patients died of whom 125 due to cardiac causes. Early revascularization was beneficial on all-cause mortality (HR 0.46, 95% CI 0.30-0.46) and cardiac mortality (HR 0.54, 95% CI 0.29-0.99). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with myocardial ischemia on stress SPECT who underwent early revascularization had a lower all-cause mortality and cardiac mortality during long-term follow-up as compared to patients who received pharmacological therapy alone. This difference in long-term outcomes was mainly influenced by the survival benefit of early revascularization in the patients with moderate to high ischemia burden.

Prediction of 8-year cardiovascular outcomes in patients with systemic arterial hypertension: value of stress (99m)Tc-tetrofosmin myocardial perfusion imaging in a high-risk cohort.

OBJECTIVE: Systemic arterial hypertension is a strong and prevalent cardiovascular risk factor. Currently, information on the very long-term prognostic value of single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) in patients with systemic arterial hypertension is lacking. The aim of this study was to assess the value of stress (99m)Tc-tetrofosmin MPI for the prediction of very long-term outcome in these patients. METHODS: The study population consisted of 608 patients with systemic arterial hypertension who underwent exercise or dobutamine stress (99m)Tc-tetrofosmin MPI for the assessment of known or suspected coronary artery disease. Follow-up was successful in 600 (99%) patients. The endpoints were all-cause mortality, cardiac death, nonfatal infarction, and coronary revascularization. Kaplan-Meier survival cures were constructed and univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify predictors of very long-term outcome. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 59 ± 10 years, and 65% of them were male. MPI findings were normal in 301 patients (50%). Myocardial perfusion abnormalities were fixed in 162 (27%) and reversible in 137 (23%) patients. During a median 8.1-year follow-up, 241 (40%) patients died (121 cardiac deaths), 52 (9%) had a nonfatal myocardial infarction, and 128 (21%) underwent coronary revascularization. Survival curves in patients with a low vs a high summed difference score diverged up to 5 years after the test was performed. Multivariate analyses demonstrated that SPECT MPI provided incremental prognostic information up to 5 years after the test. CONCLUSIONS: Stress (99m)Tc-tetrofosmin MPI provides incremental prognostic information for the prediction of cardiovascular outcome in patients with systemic arterial hypertension. Patients with normal stress MPI have a significantly better prognosis as compared with those with an abnormal study, up to 5 years after the test is performed.

12-Year outcome after normal myocardial perfusion SPECT in patients with known coronary artery disease.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have reported a favorable outcome of patients with normal single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). The aim of this study was to assess the very long-term prognosis of patients with known coronary artery disease (CAD) and normal SPECT MPI results. METHODS: The population consisted of 266 patients with known CAD (defined as a healed myocardial infarction and/or a previous coronary revascularization), who underwent exercise bicycle or dobutamine-atropine stress SPECT MPI and had normal perfusion during stress and at rest. End points during follow-up were all-cause mortality, cardiac mortality, and nonfatal myocardial infarction. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify predictors of long-term outcome. RESULTS: Follow-up was completed in 261 (98%) patients. During a median follow-up of 12 years, 94 (36%) patients died, of which 26 (10%) died due to cardiac causes, and 15 (6%) had a nonfatal myocardial infarction. The annualized mortality rate was 3.1%, annualized cardiac mortality rate was 0.9%, and the annualized event rate for cardiac death and/or nonfatal infarction was 1.2%. Independent predictors of total mortality were age, diabetes mellitus, and rate-pressure product at peak stress. Independent predictors of cardiac mortality were age, male gender, and rate-pressure product at peak stress. CONCLUSION: Patients with known CAD and a normal SPECT MPI study have a favorable long-term prognosis. Clinical and stress test variables can be used to identify patients with a higher risk status.

Long-term prognostic value of exercise technetium-99m tetrofosmin myocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography.

BACKGROUND: Exercise (99m)Tc-tetrofosmin single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is a useful tool for short- and medium-term risk stratifications. Currently, the long-term prognostic application of this technique has not been evaluated. METHODS AND RESULTS: Exercise (99m)Tc-tetrofosmin was performed in 655 consecutive patients. Ten patients who underwent revascularization <60 days after nuclear testing were excluded from the analysis. The present data are based on 638 patients with complete follow-up. An abnormal SPECT study was defined as the presence of fixed and/or reversible perfusion defects. End points were cardiac death, nonfatal infarction, and late coronary revascularization. A total of 344 (54%) patients had an abnormal SPECT study. Perfusion defects included fixed defects alone in 186 patients (29%) and reversible defects in 158 (25%) patients. During a mean follow-up of 11.0 ± 3.3 years, 174 (27%) patients died (all-cause mortality). Nonfatal myocardial infarction occurred in 76 (12%) patients, and late coronary revascularization was performed in 194 (30%) patients. Univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression analyses showed that exercise (99m)Tc-tetrofosmin SPECT provided prognostic information incremental to clinical data and exercise test data. Patients with a normal SPECT had a relatively favorable long-term prognosis, in contrast to patients with an abnormal study who had a significantly increased risk of cardiac events. The SPECT parameters abnormal scan, reversible defect, and summed rest score were strong predictors of long-term outcome. CONCLUSION: Exercise (99m)Tc-tetrofosmin myocardial perfusion SPECT has an incremental long-term prognostic value over clinical and stress test parameters for the prediction of major adverse cardiac events.

Short- and Long-term Prognosis of Patients With Acute Heart Failure With and Without Diabetes: Changes Over the Last Three Decades.

OBJECTIVE: We studied differences in long-term (i.e., 10 year) prognosis among patients with acute heart failure (HF) with and without diabetes over the last three decades. In addition, we investigated whether the degree of prognostic improvement in that period was comparable between patients with and without diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: This prospective registry included all consecutive patients aged 18 years and older admitted to the Intensive Coronary Care Unit with acute HF in the period of 1985-2008. A total of 1,810 patients were included; 384 patients (21%) had diabetes. The outcome measure was the composite of all-cause mortality, heart transplantation, and left ventricular assist device implantation after 10-year follow-up. RESULTS: The 10-year outcome in patients with diabetes was significantly worse than in those without diabetes (87% vs. 76%; adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.17 [95% CI 1.02-1.33]). Patients admitted in the last decade had a significantly lower 10-year event rate than patients admitted in the first two decades, both among patients without diabetes (adjusted HR 0.86 [95% CI 0.75-0.99]) and patients with diabetes (adjusted HR 0.80 [95% CI 0.63-1.00]). CONCLUSIONS: The long-term outcome of patients with diabetes is worse than that of patients without diabetes. However, the long-term prognosis improved over time in both groups. Importantly, this improvement in long-term prognosis was comparable in patients with and without diabetes. Despite these promising results, more awareness for diabetes in patients with acute HF is necessary and there is still need for optimal treatment of diabetes in acute HF.

Impact of Early Coronary Revascularization on Long-Term Outcomes in Patients With Myocardial Ischemia on Dobutamine Stress Echocardiography.

The role of early coronary revascularization in the management of stable coronary artery disease remains controversial. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of early coronary revascularization on long-term outcomes (>10 years) after an ischemic dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease. Patients without stress-induced ischemia on DSE and those who underwent late coronary revascularization (>90 days after DSE) were excluded. The final study cohort consisted of 905 patients. A DSE with a peak wall motion score index of 1.1 to 1.7 was considered mild to moderately abnormal (n = 460), and >1.7 was markedly abnormal (n = 445). End points were all-cause and cardiac mortality. The impact of early coronary revascularization on outcomes was assessed using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox's proportional hazard regression models. Early coronary revascularization was performed in 222 patients (percutaneous coronary intervention in 113 [51%] and coronary artery bypass grafting in 109 patients [49%]). During a median follow-up time of 10 years (range 8 to 15), 474 deaths (52%) occurred, of which were 241 (51%) due to cardiac causes. Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that both in patients with a markedly abnormal DSE and a mild-to-moderately abnormal DSE, early revascularization was associated with better long-term outcomes. Multivariable analyses revealed that early revascularization had a beneficial effect on all-cause mortality (hazard ratio 0.60, 95% confidence interval 0.46 to 0.79) and cardiac mortality (hazard ratio 0.49, 95% confidence interval 0.34 to 0.72). In conclusion, early coronary revascularization has a beneficial impact on long-term outcomes in patients with myocardial ischemia on DSE. Early coronary revascularization was associated with better outcomes not only in patients with a markedly abnormal DSE but also in those with a mild to moderately abnormal DSE.

Dobutamine stress myocardial perfusion imaging: 8-year outcomes in patients with diabetes mellitus.

AIMS: Many studies have examined the prognostic value of myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) using single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) for the prediction of short- to medium-term outcomes. However, the long-term prognostic value of MPI in patients with diabetes mellitus remains unclear. Therefore, this study assessed the long-term prognostic value of MPI in a high-risk cohort of patients with diabetes mellitus. METHODS AND RESULTS: A high-risk cohort of 207 patients with diabetes mellitus who were unable to undergo exercise testing underwent dobutamine stress MPI. Follow-up was successful in 206 patients; 12 patients were excluded due to early revascularization. The current data are based on the remaining 194 patients. Follow-up end points were all-cause mortality, cardiac mortality, and nonfatal myocardial infarction. The Kaplan-Meier survival curves were constructed, and univariable and multivariable analyses were performed to identify predictors of long-term outcome. During a mean follow-up of 8.1 ± 5.9 years, 134 (69%) patients died of which 68 (35%) died due to cardiac causes. Nonfatal myocardial infarction occurred in 24 patients (12%), and late (>60 days) coronary revascularization was performed in 61 (13%) patients. Survival analysis showed that MPI provided optimal risk stratification up to 4 years after testing. After that period, the outcome was comparable in patients with normal and abnormal MPI. Multivariable analyses showed that MPI provided incremental prognostic value up to 4 years after testing. CONCLUSION: In high-risk patients with diabetes mellitus, dobutamine MPI provides incremental prognostic information in addition to clinical data for a 4-year period after testing.

Eight-Year Prognostic Value of QRS Duration in Patients With Known or Suspected Coronary Artery Disease Referred for Myocardial Perfusion Imaging.

QRS duration is of prognostic relevance in patients with several underlying heart diseases. Short-term data also show the prognostic value of QRS duration in lower risk groups of patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the long-term prognostic value of QRS duration in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease. The study cohort consisted of 512 patients (308 men, mean age 60 ± 11 years) who underwent myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) for the evaluation of suspected or known coronary artery disease. Follow-up data were collected to assess the prognostic value of QRS duration, alongside clinical characteristics and MPI results. End points were cardiac death and cardiac death or nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI). During a mean follow-up of 8.6 ± 5.2 years, 290 patients (60%) died, with 139 deaths (27%) attributable to cardiac causes. Nonfatal MI occurred in 28 patients (6%), and 127 patients (25%) underwent late coronary revascularization (>3 months). Patients with QRS duration <120 ms had annualized cardiac death rates and cardiac death or nonfatal MI rates of 2.2% and 2.3%, respectively, compared with those of 4.1% and 4.4% in patients with QRS duration ≥120 ms. Multivariate models identified QRS duration ≥120 ms as an independent predictor of both end points, on top of clinical characteristics and MPI results. In conclusion, QRS duration ≥120 ms is an independent predictor of cardiac death and cardiac death or nonfatal MI, after adjustment for clinical characteristics and MPI results.

Eleven-year prognostic value of dobutamine stress (99m)Tc-sestamibi myocardial perfusion imaging in patients with limited exercise capacity.

Myocardial perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography is a routine technique for the evaluation of coronary artery disease. However, information on the very long term prognostic value of dobutamine stress single-photon emission computed tomographic myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) in patients with limited exercise capacity is scarce. The aim of this study was to assess the long-term prognostic value of dobutamine stress technetium-99m ((99m)Tc)-sestamibi MPI in these patients. The study population consisted of a high-risk cohort of 531 consecutive patients with limited exercise capacity who underwent dobutamine stress (99m)Tc-sestamibi MPI for the assessment of known or suspected coronary artery disease. Follow-up was successful in 528 patients. Because of early revascularization, 55 patients were excluded. The present data are based on 473 patients. The end points were all-cause mortality, cardiac death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, and late (>60 days) coronary revascularization. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were performed and univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify predictors of very long term outcome. The mean age of the patients was 61 ± 12 years, and 58% were men. Abnormal results (defined as the presence of reversible or fixed defects) were observed in 312 patients (66%). During a mean follow-up period of 11.3 ± 6.7 years, 287 patients (61%) died (all-cause mortality), of whom 125 (26%) died due to cardiac causes. Nonfatal myocardial infarction occurred in 59 patients (12%). Late coronary revascularization was performed in 61 patients (13%). Univariate predictors of major cardiac events included age, male gender, previous infarction, diabetes mellitus, history of angina, heart failure, ST-segment changes, abnormal results on (99m)Tc-sestamibi scan, reversible defect, fixed defect, summed rest score, and summed stress score. Multivariate analysis identified abnormal results on MPI as a strong independent predictor of major adverse cardiac events. In conclusion, in patients with limited exercise capacity, dobutamine stress (99m)Tc-sestamibi single-photon emission computed tomography provides incremental prognostic information in addition to clinical and stress test parameters for the prediction of very long term outcomes.