The prognostic significance of stress-only myocardial perfusion scan: A 5 year observational study

Stress-only myocardial perfusion imaging protocol has a prognostic value similar to that of a stress-rest protocol. The aim of the study was to assess stress myocardial perfusion by gated single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) myocardial perfusion imaging (GSMPI) in patients who had a normal stress-only study 4.9 years (mean time) before and assess the possible influence of various factors on the results.

Three hundred and forty patients who had a normal stress-only study in the past, were reexamined with GSMPI after a mean period of 4.9 years.

Thirty out of 340 patients (8.8%) had an ischemic result on stress and were therefore submitted to a rest study. Differences between normal and pathological results across levels of potential prognostic factors (age, gender, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, arterial hypertension, smoking and family history), symptoms,left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) on ultrasound (U/S), coronary angiography and pre-test probability did not prove statistically significant. On multivariable analysis patients with the combination of family history, diabetes mellitus and hypertension had a 10.7 times higher risk of a pathological scan than the patients without.

The information delivered by stress-only GSMPI proved to be a prognostically reliable method for follow-up of low and intermediate pretest probability coronary artery disease (CAD) patients.

The 91.2% of the patients with an initial normal stress-only GSMPI had a repeat normal stress-only GSMPI after a mean period of 4.9 years. The combination of family history, diabetes mellitus and hypertension increases the risk of a pathological scan significantly.