Short-term reproducibility of dipyridamole-echocardiography test

The aim of this study was to assess the short-term reproducibility of dipyridamole-echocardiography test (DET) consisting of two-dimensional echo monitoring during dipyridamole infusion (up to 0.84 mg/kg in 10 min). The diagnostic end-point of the test is the detection of new onset or worsening regional asynergy. A group of 87 patients with rest and/or effort angina performed two DETS on two consecutive days. All 60 patients with a positive DET had a positive repeat test, and the 27 negative DETs were also negative on the following day. The timing of the asynergy was also very similar between the two tests, both in patients with angina on effort (r = .93, p less than 0.01) and at rest (r = .92, p less than 0.01). In conclusion, DET has a very high short-term reproducibility regarding the presence and timing of asynergy.