[Early test of thallium dipyridamole after myocardial infarction: prognostic value and correlation with...

Fifty three patients were studied with dipyridamole thallium myocardial scintigraphy, 4 to 6 days after a first episode of myocardial infarction. Localization of infarction was anterior in 25 and inferior in 28. Infarction was confirmed by myocardial scintigraphy in 87% of cases. A non q wave myocardial infarction was present in 5 of the 7 patients with negative scintigraphy. Residual myocardial ischemia was suggested by myocardial scintigraphy in 68% of patients. Correlated to coronary arteriography, sensitivity for myocardial ischemia was 80%, specificity 82%. After a mean follow up of 11.2 months, 22 of 36 patients with positive myocardial scintigraphy had new coronary events, 15 of them requiring myocardial revascularization. In contrast, only 2 of 17 patients with negative scintigraphy had new events (p < 0.05). Thus dipyridamole thallium myocardial scintigraphy early after myocardial infarction is a valuable prognostic test.