Dipyridamole-echocardiography test in effort angina pectoris

This study assesses the clinical feasibility and usefulness of dipyridamole infusion for the detection of coronary artery disease (CAD) by using 2-dimensional echocardiography (2-D echo) and 12-lead electrocardiographic monitoring. Dipyridamole infusion (0.14 mg/kg/min for 4 minutes) was performed in 66 consecutive patients with effort chest pain and in 9 control subjects. Among the 28 patients with positive dipyridamole-echocardiography test responses, 18 had diagnostic electrocardiographic changes (ST-segment depression on anterolateral leads), but these changes were unrelated to the site of asynergy. The dipyridamole-echocardiography test had an overall sensitivity of 56% and specificity of 100% for the presence of CAD. Exercise stress testing (EST) had an overall sensitivity of 62% and a specificity of 80%. Thus, the dipyridamole-echocardiography test, which is feasible in essentially all patients with good basal echocardiograms, has a lower overall sensitivity in detecting CAD than EST but a higher specificity, detects the site of apparent ischemia as identified by regional asynergy more precisely than EST, and can unmask electrocardiographically silent effort ischemia.