Assessment of coronary artery disease using single-photon emission computed tomography with thallium-201 during adenosine-induced coronary hyperemia.

Thallium-201 myocardial imaging during dipyridamole-induced coronary hyperemia has been an accepted method for diagnosing coronary artery disease (CAD) and risk stratification. Adenosine is a powerful short-acting coronary vasodilator. Initial results of thallium imaging during adenosine infusion have been encouraging. In 132 patients with CAD and in 16 patients with normal coronary angiograms, adenosine was given intravenously at a dose of 0.14 mg/kg/min for 6 minutes and thallium-201 was injected at 3 minutes. The thallium images using single-photon emission computed tomography were abnormal in 47 of the 54 patients (87%) with 1-vessel, in 34 of 37 patients (92%) with 2-vessel and in 40 of 41 patients (98%) with 3-vessel CAD. The sensitivity was 92% in the 132 patients with CAD (95% confidence intervals, 86 to 96%). In patients with normal coronary angiograms, 14 of 16 patients had normal thallium images (specificity, 88%; 95% confidence intervals, 59 to 100%). The results were very similar when subgroups of patients were analyzed: those without prior myocardial infarction, elderly patients and women. The nature of the perfusion defects (fixed or reversible) was assessed in relation to whether the 4-hour delayed images were obtained with or without the reinjection technique. In patients who underwent conventional delayed imaging, there were more fixed perfusion defects than in patients with reinjection delayed imaging (16 vs 0%, p less than 0.0001). The adverse effects were mild, transient and well tolerated. Thus, adenosine thallium tomographic imaging provides a high degree of accuracy in the diagnosis of CAD. The use of the reinjection technique enhances the ability to detect reversible defects.

Assessment of the myocardial perfusion pattern in patients with multivessel coronary artery disease.

We studied 42 symptomatic patients with coronary artery disease involving two or three vessels using exercise thallium-201 myocardial scintigraphy. Qualitative analysis of the images predicted multivessel disease in 75% of the patients with two-vessel disease and in 82% of the patients with three-vessel disease. Quantitative analysis of the size of the perfusion defect indicated that approximately 40% of the left ventricular perimeter showed abnormal perfusion pattern during stress in these patients, and there was no significant difference in the size of the defect in patients with two-vessel disease or three-vessel disease (41 +/- 17% vs 42 +/- 14%, respectively, mean +/- SD). The exercise heart rate, exercise ECG response, and severity of narrowing did not correlate with the size of the perfusion defect. Patients with anterior infarction had larger defects in the distribution of the left anterior descending artery than those without infarction. Collaterals offered partial protection during exercise only when they were not jeopardized. This study confirms the value of qualitative analysis of exercise thallium-201 imaging in predicting multivessel disease, and describes a simple method of assessing the extent of perfusion abnormalities during stress in patients with multivessel disease. The results may be important in patient management and prognosis.

Echocardiographic and phonocardiographic assessment of the St. Jude cardiac valve prosthesis.

Forty-three consecutive patients with a St. Jude mitral, aortic, or combined prosthesis were studied by simultaneous phonocardiography and echocardiography. Twenty-eight patients had a mitral prosthesis, 20 an aortic prosthesis, and five had both. No opening click was recorded in any patient; however, a loud aortic or mitral closing click was recorded in all 43 patients. In patients with St. Jude mitral valve prosthesis, an echo-free space separated the two leaflets during diastole; seven of these also had a mid-diastolic closing and late diastolic reopening motion; two of the seven had an associated closing mid-diastolic click. A mid-diastolic rumble was recorded in six of 28 patients with St. Jude mitral valve prosthesis. In patients with a St. Jude aortic valve prosthesis, left atrium leaflet motion was recorded in 17 of 20 patients and was indistinguishable in appearance from echocardiograms obtained with various eccentric monocusp valves. In addition, we report one case of malfunction of a St. Jude mitral valve and one case of a paravalvular leak diagnosed by echophonocardiography. We concluded that the St. Jude cardiac prosthesis has variable normal phonocardiographic-echocardiographic patterns. Knowledge of these variable patterns is important in assessing patients with suspected malfunction of a St. Jude cardiac prosthesis.

Quantitative radionuclide angiography in assessment of hemodynamic changes during upright exercise: observations in normal subjects, patient with coronary artery disease and patients with aortic regurgitation.

Quantitative radionuclide angiography (with the first pass technique and a computerized multicrystal camera) was used to evaluate hemodynamic changes in three subject groups during symptom-limited upright exercise. The 12 normal subjects had significant increases in heart rate, stroke volume, left ventricular ejection fraction and cardiac output during exercise; changes in end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes were not significant. In the 24 patients with coronary artery disease there were significant increases in heart rate and cardiac output during exercise, but insignificant changes in end-diastolic, end-systolic and stroke volumes and ejection fraction. The change in diastolic volume in these patients was determined by the extent of coronary artery disease, propranolol therapy, end point of exercise and presence of collateral vessels. Furthermore, patients with previous myocardial infarction had a lower ejection fraction and higher end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes during exercise than those without myocardial infarction. In the 12 patients with chronic aortic regurgitation of moderate to severe degree, there was a decrease in the end-diastolic volume during exercise. This response was distinctly different from that of the normal subjects or the patients with coronary artery disease. All three groups had a significant decrease in pulmonary transit time during exercise. It is concluded that changes in cardiac output in normal subjects during upright exercise are related to augmentation of stroke volume and tachycardia, whereas in patients with coronary artery disease they are related mainly to tachycardia. Left ventricular dilatation during exercise occurred in some normal subjects and in patients with coronary artery disease but was not a consistent finding. However, a decrease in left ventricular end-diastolic volume is common in patients with aortic regurgitation. Such a decrease may be explained by a reduction in the regurgitant volume per beat caused by shortening of the diastolic filling period or a decrease in systemic vascular resistance, or both.

Assessment of left ventricular function in patients with isolated severe disease of the left anterior descending artery: clinical, electrocardiographic, hemodynamic, and angiographic correlations.

The purpose of this study was to define the spectrum of left ventriculographic (LV) abnormalities in 60 patients with isolated Greater Than or Equal To 90% diameter narrowing of the left anterior descending artery (LAD). The patients were divided into three groups: Group I (26 patients) had normal left ventricular (LV) function with ejection fraction (EF) of Greater Than 60% and no akinetic-dyskinetic segment representing abnormal contracting segments (ACS) of the left ventricular wall; Group II (15 patients) had mild to moderate LV dysfunction with EF of 40-60% and an akinetic-dyskinetic segment of Less Than 30% of the end diastolic perimeter (0-30%; mean, 11.6%) and Group III (19 patients) had severe LV dysfunction with EF Less Than 40%, or an akinetic-dyskinetic segment of Greater Than or Equal To 30% (30-81%; mean, 41.5%) or both. The data obtained from the history, physical examination, electrocardiogram (ECG), chest x-ray studies, hemodynamic studies, left ventriculography, and coronary arteriography were entered and filed on a memory disc in an IBM 370-168 computer. Analysis of the results showed: 1) more severe LV dysfunction is associated with increased incidence of large hearts, gallops, decreased cardiac output, and occlusion of the LAD. 2) ECG evidence of infarction is also associated with higher incidence of the abnormalities of the indices of LV dysfunction. 3) LAD occlusion (versus stenosis) has a higher incidence of severe LV dysfunction and prior infarction. 4) The site of LAD disease did not predict the extent of left ventricular dysfunction. 5) Collaterals did not protect against severe LV dysfunction.