The value of dobutamine stress echocardiography for the detection of coronary artery disease in women

Multimodality Imaging in the Detection of Ischemic Heart Disease in Women

Women with coronary artery disease tend to have a worse short and long-term prognosis relative to men and the incidence of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is increasing. Women are less likely to present with classic anginal symptoms when compared with men and more likely to be misdiagnosed. Several non-invasive imaging modalities are available for diagnosing ischemic heart disease in women and many of these modalities can also assist with prognostication and help to guide management. Selection of the optimal imaging modality to evaluate women with possible ischemic heart disease is a scenario which clinicians often encounter. Earlier modalities such as exercise treadmill testing demonstrate significant performance variation in men and women, while newer modalities such as coronary CT angiography, myocardial perfusion imaging and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging are highly specific and sensitive for the detection of ischemia and coronary artery disease with greater parity between sexes. Individual factors, availability, diagnostic performance, and female-specific considerations such as pregnancy status may influence the decision to select one modality over another. Emerging techniques such as strain rate imaging, CT-myocardial perfusion imaging and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging present additional options for diagnosing ischemia and coronary microvascular dysfunction.

Disparities in Cardiac Care of Women: Current Data and Possible Solutions

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in women. The goal of this review is to address known disparities in cardiovascular care with regard to diagnosis and treatment of heart disease in women.

RECENT FINDINGS

Gender-specific differences in regard to the incidence, treatment, and outcomes of common cardiovascular pathology are increasingly recognized. Particular attention to ischemic heart disease, arrhythmia, congestive heart failure, and structural heart disease are reviewed in this article. There is a clear racial and ethnic discrepancy among women which is particularly concerning with a progressively diverse patient population. Medical and surgical treatment differences between men and women must be addressed by providers in order to optimize long-term outcomes among all patients. Understanding the unique cardiovascular risk profile and barriers to optimal treatment outcomes in women is imperative to eliminate the current disparities in cardiovascular disease.

The role of stress echocardiography in the evaluation of coronary artery disease and myocardial ischemia in women

Considering the unfavorable prognosis of women with ischemic heart disease, an aggressive but safe approach to evaluate women presenting with chest pain is warranted so that coronary artery disease (CAD) can be identified and treated early. Stress echocardiography (SE) has matured into an invaluable technique for the noninvasive detection of obstructive epicardial CAD. Its versatility, accuracy, safety, noninvasiveness, and lack of radiation exposure make SE an attractive technique to apply to the assessment of women with known or suspected heart disease. This article focuses on the current evidence supporting the role of SE in the assessment of CAD and myocardial ischemia in women.

Head to Head Comparison of Stress Echocardiography with Exercise Electrocardiography for the Detection of Coronary Artery Stenosis in Women

Background

Exercise-stress electrocardiography (ECG) is initially recommended for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease. But its value has been questioned in women because of suboptimal diagnostic accuracy. Stress echocardiography had been reported to have comparable test accuracy in women. But the data comparing the diagnostic accuracy of exercise-stress ECG and stress echocardiography directly are few. The aim of the study was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of exercise-stress ECG and dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) in Korean women.

Methods

202 consecutive female patients who presented with chest pain in outpatient clinic, and who underwent treadmill exercise test (TET), DSE and coronary angiography were included for the study. The diagnostic accuracy TET and DSE were calculated by the definition of > 50% or > 75% coronary artery stenosis (CAS).

Results

The sensitivity and specificity were higher with DSE (70.4, 94.6%) than TET (53.7, 73.6%) for detection of > 50% CAS. The higher accuracy of DSE was maintained after exclusion of the patients who could not achieve over 85% age predicted heart rate before ischemia induction. DSE also showed greater diagnostic accuracy than TET by > 75% CAS criteria, and in subsets of patient with intermediate pretest probability.

Conclusion

In the diagnosis of CAS, DSE showed higher accuracy than TET in female patients who presented with chest pain. As well as the test accuracy, adequate stress was more feasible with DSE than TET. These finding suggests DSE may be used as the first-line diagnostic tool in the detection of CAS in women with chest pain.

Prognostic value of normal stress echocardiography in obese patients

BACKGROUND

Chest pain is a common problem in obese patients. Because of the body habitus, the results of noninvasive evaluation for CAD may be limited in this group.

METHODS

We reviewed the records of 1446 consecutive patients who had undergone clinically indicated stress echocardiography (SE). We compared major adverse cardiac events (MACE; myocardial infarction, cardiac intervention, cardiac death, subsequent hospitalization for cardiac events, and emergency department visits) at 1 year in normal weight, overweight, and obese subjects with normal SE.

RESULTS

Excluding patients with an abnormal and indeterminate SE and those who were lost to follow-up, a retrospective analysis of 704 patients was performed. There were 366 obese patients (BMI ≥ 30), 196 overweight patients (BMI 25-29.9), and 142 patients with normal BMI (18.5-24.9). There was no MACE in the groups at 1-year follow-up after a normal SE.

CONCLUSIONS

In obese patients including those with multiple risk factors and symptoms concerning for cardiac ischemia, stress echocardiography is an effective and reliable noninvasive tool for identifying those with a low 1-year risk of cardiac events.

Diagnosing and characterizing coronary artery disease in women: developments in noninvasive and invasive imaging techniques

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in men and women in the USA; yet, coronary artery disease (CAD) continues to be underrecognized and underdiagnosed in women. Noninvasive and invasive imaging techniques are constantly being developed in order to more accurately assess CAD. At the same time, the impact of gender on the interpretation and accuracy of these studies is still being elucidated. Furthermore, new imaging techniques have improved our understanding of CAD pathophysiology and progression and have begun to reveal gender differences in the development of CAD. This article will review current imaging techniques and their application to diagnosing and understanding CAD in women.

Sex preferences in cardiovascular testing: the contribution of the patient-physician discussion

OBJECTIVES

Prior studies suggest that a decreased cardiac catheterization rate for women with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is partially attributed to gender differences in patient preferences for testing. The hypothesis was that these preferences are influenced by physician recommendations for cardiovascular testing.

METHODS

This was a cohort study of patients who presented to an emergency department (ED) with chest pain. At the time of ED disposition, patients were surveyed to assess whether or not the doctor discussed the possibility of coronary artery disease (CAD), the physician's recommendations for diagnostic testing, and the patient's preferences for further testing. The survey was repeated at the time of discharge from the hospital if the patient was admitted and again at 30 days for all patients. The main outcome was patient-reported physician recommendation for testing, and the secondary outcome was patient preference for cardiovascular testing.

RESULTS

There were 206 patients enrolled (118 women, 88 men). Women were less likely than men to receive cardiac catheterization as inpatients (9.8% vs. 20.0%, p = 0.04). In the ED, women were less likely to be recommended for stress testing (8.5% vs. 19.3%, p = 0.02) or cardiac catheterization (4.2% vs. 13.6%, p = 0.02) or to see a cardiologist (8.5% vs. 22.7%, p < 0.01). As inpatients, women were more likely to be told that no further testing was needed (70.5% vs. 50.0%, p = 0.03). While there was higher incidence of prior CAD and myocardial infarction among the men in the study, analysis after removal of these patients did not alter results. Physicians were less likely to counsel women about diagnostic testing options in the ED (10.1% vs. 22.7%, p = 0.03), as inpatients (11.5% vs. 40.0%, p < 0.01), and as outpatients (26.1% vs. 48.6%, p = 0.04). No patients in the study refused their doctors' recommendations. Women were less likely to prefer catheterization in the ED (5.1% vs. 15.9%, p = 0.01) and were more likely to prefer no further testing as inpatients (60.7% vs. 40.0%, p = 0.02).

CONCLUSIONS

Women who presented to the ED with symptoms concerning for ACS reported lower rates of physician recommendation for cardiovascular testing, as well as lower rates of counseling regarding cardiac etiologies of their chest pain. These findings suggest sex differences in preference for cardiovascular testing may be partially explained by the discussions between women and their doctors.

Coronary artery disease in women: a 2013 update

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a leading cause of death of women and men worldwide. CAD's impact on women traditionally has been underappreciated due to higher rates at younger ages in men. Microvascular coronary disease disproportionately affects women. Women have unique risk factors for CAD, including those related to pregnancy and autoimmune disease. Trial data indicate that CAD should be managed differently in women. In this review, we will examine risk assessment for CAD in women, CAD's impact on women, as well as CAD's female-specific presentation and management strategies.

Coronary heart disease in women: a challenge for the 21st century

Heart disease is the first killer of women in the modern era, regardless of age, race and of ethnicity, although its prevalence rises after menopause. Modern women have professional and housewife responsibilities, consume excess of fat and carbohydrates, smoke, do not exercise regularly and do not have enough time to rest. This situation leads to overweight, dyslipidemia, arterial hypertension, impaired glucose tolerance and diabetes. Women do not often participate in preventive studies and still undergo less intensive and invasive evaluation and treatment for chest pain when compared to men. However, the rate of coronary death is twice higher in women than in men after myocardial infarction and revascularization procedures. The objective of this review is to analyze the main gender differences regarding symptoms, diagnosis, management and prognosis of coronary heart disease and to discuss the influence of hormonal replacement therapy in the prevention of cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women.

Methodological Analysis of Diagnostic Dobutamine Stress Echocardiography Studies

BACKGROUND

Dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) is an accepted test for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD), despite its wide diagnostic accuracy.

AIM

Which factors cause test variability of DSE for the diagnosis of CAD.

METHODS

In a retrospective analysis of 46 studies in 5,353 patients, the potential causes of diagnostic variability were systematically analyzed, including patient selection, definition of CAD, chest pain characteristics, confounding factors for DSE (left ventricular hypertrophy, left bundle branch block, female gender), work-up bias (present when patient's chance to undergo coronary angiography is influenced by the result of DSE), review bias (present when DSE is interpreted in relation to CAG), DSE protocol and definition of a positive DSE.

RESULTS

Diagnostic variability was related to definition of a positive test, but not related to the definition of CAD or DSE protocol. However, only three of eight methodological standards for research design found general compliance. Differences in the selection of the study population (quality of echocardiographic window, angina pectoris), handling of confounding factors and analysis of disease in individual coronary arteries were observed. Lack of data on analysis of relevant chest pain syndromes and handling of nondiagnostic test results hampered further evaluation of these standards.

CONCLUSION

Methodological problems may explain the wide range in diagnostic variability of DSE. An improvement of clinical relevance of DSE testing is possible by stronger adherence to common and new methodological standards.

Factors affecting sensitivity and specificity of diagnostic testing: dobutamine stress echocardiography

BACKGROUND

Clinical characteristics of patients, angiographic referral bias, and several technical factors may all affect the reported diagnostic accuracy of tests. The aim of this study was to assess their influence on the diagnostic accuracy of dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE).

METHODS

The medical literature from 1991 to 2006 was searched for diagnostic studies using DSE and meta-analysis was applied to the 62 studies thus retrieved, including 6881 patients. These studies were analyzed for patient characteristics, angiographic referral bias, and several technical factors.

RESULTS

The sensitivity of DSE was significantly related to the inclusion of patients with prior myocardial infarctions (0.834 vs 0.740, P < .01) and defining the results of DSE as already positive in case of resting wall motion abnormalities rather than obligatory myocardial ischemia (0.786 vs 0.864, P < .01). Specificity tended to be lower when patients with resting wall motion abnormalities were included in a study (0.812 vs 0.877, P < .10). The presence of referral bias adversely affected the specificity of DSE (0.771 vs 0.842, P < .01).

CONCLUSION

This analysis suggests that the reported sensitivity of DSE is likely higher and the specificity lower than expected in routine clinical practice because of the inappropriate inclusion of patients with prior myocardial infarctions, the definition of positive results on DSE, and the negative influence of referral bias. However, in the patient subset that will be sent to coronary angiography, the opposite results can be expected.

Impact of gender on risk stratification by stress echocardiography

OBJECTIVE

To compare the prognostic value of stress echocardiography results in men and women with known and suspected coronary artery disease.

METHODS

We analyzed the data of 8737 patients (5529 men and 3208 women) who underwent stress echocardiography (exercise in 523 patients, dipyridamole in 6227 patients, dobutamine in 1987) for evaluating known (n=3857) or suspected (n=4880) coronary artery disease. Patients were followed up for the occurrence of overall mortality or nonfatal myocardial infarction.

RESULTS

During a median follow-up of 25 months, 1218 cardiac events (693 deaths and 525 infarctions) occurred. Moreover, 2263 patients (1731 men [31%] and 532 women [17%]; P<.0001) underwent coronary revascularization and were censored. Stress echocardiography results added prognostic information to that of clinical findings and resting wall motion score index in men and women with both known and suspected coronary artery disease. In patients with known coronary artery disease, women had a higher (P=.01) event rate than men in the presence of ischemia. The annual event rate was worse for nondiabetic women (P=.007) but not diabetic women; age had a neutral prognostic effect in the 2 sexes. In patients with suspected coronary artery disease, men without ischemia had a higher (P<.0001) event rate than women. The annual event rate was worse in men aged less than 65 years (P<.0001) or more than 65 years (P=.04), and those with (P=.03) or without (P<.0001) diabetes.

CONCLUSION

Prognosis is at least comparable in men and women with ischemia and in those with coronary artery disease and no ischemia at stress echocardiography. In these clinical settings, availability for major procedures should be similar for both genders.

Recent advances in dobutamine stress echocardiography

Dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) is a reliable cardiac risk stratifier that has widespread applicability because of its clinical accuracy and cost effectiveness. Dobutamine has positive inotropic and chronotropic effects and is commonly used in patients who cannot exercise or achieve an adequate heart rate response with exercise. Recently available long-term results from several independent clinical trials, combined with enhancements in image quality, have improved the ability to detect significant coronary artery disease and determine myocardial viability. Dobutamine stress echocardiography has an excellent safety profile with clinical results superior to regular exercise electrocardiography and comparable with exercise echocardiography and radionucleotide perfusion stress imaging. Low-dose dobutamine response can accurately predict dysfunctional yet viable myocardial regions that may improve with revascularization. Clinical studies are now available refining the common use of DSE preoperatively in female patients with valvular disease, as well as in the emergency department. Dobutamine stress echocardiography does have some limitations in discriminating particular regions of ischemia when multiple ventricular segments are involved and when the imaging is suboptimal. It can be applied using minimal additional resources in an otherwise functioning echocardiography laboratory and, with appropriate training, can result in clinical results comparable with those of large-scale multicenter trials. Ongoing improvements in technology and the development of new reagents such as myocardial contrast agents hold promise for further advancement in the near future.

Effects of gender on prognosis of patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease undergoing contrast-enhanced dobutamine stress echocardiography

BACKGROUND

Gender differences in the predictors of outcome among patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease (CAD) undergoing contrast-enhanced dobutamine stress echocardiography (CE-DSE) have not been completely determined.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Follow-up (30+/-17 months) data for 581 men and 309 women with known or suspected CAD who underwent CE-DSE (mean age: 66 years) were obtained. Hard cardiac events included cardiac death and nonfatal myocardial infarction. Total cardiac events included hard cardiac events, unstable angina, congestive heart failure, and late revascularization (>3 months). Cardiac events occurred in 123 male and 50 female patients. Positive results for CE-DSE were associated with worse prognosis in both men and women (2-year total event free rate: 73.5% vs 88.2% in men, p<0.0001, 80.3% vs 91.3% in women, p<0.01). Addition of CE-DSE results, including abnormal left ventricular end-systolic volume response and left ventricular ejection fraction at peak stress <50%, to the clinical and rest echocardiography model provided incremental information for predicting total cardiac events (increase in chi-square value for the model from 60 to 72, p<0.001) in men and (increase in chi-square value for the model from 17 to 32, p<0.001) in women.

CONCLUSIONS

CE-DSE provides incremental information for predicting future cardiac events in both men and women.

Dobutamine stress echocardiography for the detection of coronary artery disease in women

Dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) has good diagnostic accuracy for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD). However, in most published diagnostic studies, patients are predominantly men. In women, diagnostic accuracy may be lower because of a lower prevalence and extent of CAD, a higher incidence of dobutamine stress-induced hypotension (resulting in less stress or even nondiagnostic test results), smaller left ventricular chamber size, and the beneficial effects of estrogens on the induction of myocardial ischemia. To determine the diagnostic accuracy of DSE in women, 14 diagnostic studies published through 2006 were identified through a Medline search. For a total of 901 patients, the weighted mean sensitivity and specificity were 72% and 88%, respectively. In 7 studies directly comparing results in women and men, conflicting results were reported. However, pooled data showed nearly identical values for sensitivity and specificity in women and men. Additionally, in 6 studies directly comparing DSE results in women with those of stress nuclear scintigraphy, DSE was as sensitive and more specific to detect CAD (90% vs 70%, p <0.0001). The excellent specificity of DSE in women was also confirmed by excellent normalcy rates, ranging from 92% to 100% in women, with a <5% pretest probability of CAD. In conclusion, despite some theoretical limitations, DSE has reasonable sensitivity and excellent specificity for the detection of CAD in women. Considering the diagnostic problems of exercise electrocardiography and nuclear scintigraphy in women, stress echocardiography may be the stress modality of choice in women because of its superior diagnostic specificity.

Dobutamine stress echocardiography in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease in women with chest pain: comparison with different noninvasive tests

BACKGROUND

Diagnosis of coronary artery disease(CAD) in women remains elusive. The classical diagnostic armamentarium has been found to be very limited. Dobutamine stress echocardiography has emerged as a powerful test in assessing CAD in the general population, but most studies failed to include women.

HYPOTHESIS

The accuracy of dobutamine stress echocardiography in the diagnosis of CAD in women with chest pain is high and superior to dipyridamole echocardiography, exercise electrocardiography, and sestamibi single-photon emission tomography (MIBI-SPECT) scintigraphy.

METHODS

We studied 99 consecutive women with chest pain and no previous history of CAD who underwent dobutamine echocardiography and coronary angiography. We also compared these results with those of dipyridamole echocardiography in 63 patients. exercise stress testing in 83 (48 conclusive), and MIBI-SPECT scintigraphy during dobutamine infusion in 54.

RESULTS

Significant CAD was found in 42 women. Sensitivity and specificity of dobutamine stress echocardiography were 69 and 89%, respectively. Dipyridamole echocardiography showed similar accuracy (sensitivity 72% and specificity 94%). Finally, sensitivity of exercise test and MIBI-SPECT was similar (76 and 88%, respectively) and specificity was lower (53 and 57%, respectively). After excluding patients known to have a high incidence of false positive results, MIBI-SPECT specificity rose up to 80%.

CONCLUSION

Dobutamine stress echocardiography and dipyridamole echocardiography bear a high diagnostic accuracy in women with chest pain. MIBI-SPECT is also a useful tool after excluding subgroups with a high incidence of false positive results.

The use of stress echocardiography for prognostication in coronary artery disease: an overview

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Stress echocardiography has a high accuracy for the detection of coronary artery disease. Additionally, it provides clinically useful prognostic information, such as resting left ventricular function, myocardial viability, stress-induced ischemia, vascular extent of wall motion abnormalities, and changes in end-systolic volume and ejection fraction with stress.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

The timing, extent, and severity of the stress-induced wall motion abnormalities are important determinants of long-term prognosis. Previous studies have shown the efficacy of stress echocardiography in predicting long-term cardiac events in mixed patient groups and the value of this test in selected patient subsets.

SUMMARY

This review attempts to define the role of stress echocardiography for prognostication in coronary artery disease, pointing out the ability of this technique to identify low-risk and high-risk subsets among patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease and thus guide patient management decisions.

Defining Low Risk for Coronary Heart Disease among Women with Chest Pain Syndrome: A Prospective Evaluation

BACKGROUND

A better understanding of the clinical manifestations of coronary disease in women may lead to earlier recognition and better outcomes.

METHODS

One hundred fifty-eight women coming to primary care physicians, emergency rooms, or cardiology clinics with undefined chest pain and at least two risk factors underwent detailed clinical evaluation of risk factor profile and symptom characteristics as well as stress testing. The significance of the presenting symptoms was evaluated on the basis of clinical events during an average 26.2 months of follow-up. Noncardiac pain was diagnosed on the basis of spontaneous resolution of symptoms, establishment of an alternative diagnosis, or negative coronary angiography. Cardiac chest pain was established by the development of cardiac clinical events or angiographic demonstration of coronary disease.

RESULTS

Noncardiac chest pain was established in 128 (81%) patients. The remaining 30 (19%) either were found to have had cardiac chest pain or remain symptomatic without definitive diagnosis. Multivariate analysis revealed that noncardiac chest pain was best predicted by a combination of nondiabetic status and negative stress testing. The clinical characteristics of the chest pain syndrome were not significant contributors.

CONCLUSIONS

In nondiabetic women with chest pain syndrome and at least two other cardiac risk factors, a negative stress test predicts a benign course in over 2 years of follow-up.

Role of noninvasive testing in the clinical evaluation of women with suspected coronary artery disease: Consensus statement from the Cardiac Imaging Committee, Council on Clinical Cardiology, and the Cardiovascular Imaging and Intervention Committee, Council on Cardiovascular Radiology and Intervention, American Heart Association

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality for women in the United States. Coronary heart disease, which includes coronary atherosclerotic disease, myocardial infarction, acute coronary syndromes, and angina, is the largest subset of this mortality, with >240,000 women dying annually from the disease. Atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (CAD) is the focus of this consensus statement. Research continues to report underrecognition and underdiagnosis of CAD as contributory to high mortality rates in women. Timely and accurate diagnosis can significantly reduce CAD mortality for women; indeed, once the diagnosis is made, it does appear that current treatments are equally effective at reducing risk in both women and men. As such, noninvasive diagnostic and prognostic testing offers the potential to identify women at increased CAD risk as the basis for instituting preventive and therapeutic interventions. Nevertheless, the recent evidence-based practice program report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality noted the paucity of women enrolled in diagnostic research studies. Consequently, much of the evidence supporting contemporary recommendations for noninvasive diagnostic studies in women is extrapolated from studies conducted predominantly in cohorts of middle-aged men. The majority of diagnostic and prognostic evidence in cardiac imaging in women and men has been derived from observational registries and referral populations that are affected by selection and other biases. Thus, a better understanding of the potential impact of sex differences on noninvasive cardiac testing in women may greatly improve clinical decision making. This consensus statement provides a synopsis of available evidence on the role of the exercise ECG and cardiac imaging modalities, both those in common use as well as developing technologies that may add clinical value to the diagnosis and risk assessment of the symptomatic and asymptomatic woman with suspected CAD.

Seven-year follow-up after dobutamine stress echocardiography

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of gender on long-term prognosis of patients undergoing dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE).

BACKGROUND

Gender differences in the predictors of outcome among patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease undergoing DSE have not been adequately studied.

METHODS

We studied 2,276 men and 1,105 women with known or suspected coronary artery disease who underwent DSE. Follow-up events were cardiac death and nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI).

RESULTS

Dobutamine stress echocardiography was normal in 687 men (30%) and 483 women (44%) (p <0.0001). Ischemia on DSE was present in 1,194 men (52%) and 416 women (38%) (p <0.001). During a mean follow-up of 7 +/- 3.4 years, there were 894 (26%) deaths (442 attributed to cardiac causes) and 145 (4%) nonfatal MIs. The annual cardiac event rate was 2.5% in men and 1.2% in women with normal DSE. Independent predictors of cardiac events in patients with normal DSE using a Cox proportional hazards regression analysis were male gender (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.7 [range 1.1 to 2.8]), age (HR: 1.02 [range 1.01 to 1.04]), history of heart failure (HR: 3.4 [range 1.5 to 7.9]), previous MI (HR: 1.7 [range 1.1 to 2.8]), and diabetes (HR: 2.4 [range 1.3 to 4.5]). Independent predictors of cardiac events in patients with an abnormal DSE were age (HR: 1.03 [range 1.02 to 1.04]), history of heart failure (HR: 1.7 [range 1.3 to 2.1]), diabetes (HR: 1.4 [range 1.1 to 1.8]), heart rate at rest (HR: 2.8 [range 1.4 to 5.8]), wall motion abnormalities at rest (HR: 1.06 [range 1.04 to 1.09]), and ischemia on DSE (HR: 1.04 [range 1.02 to 1.07]). Myocardial ischemia was an independent predictor of cardiac events in both men and women.

CONCLUSIONS

Dobutamine stress echocardiography provides independent prognostic information in both men and women. In patients with normal DSE, gender is independently associated with cardiac events. The outcome of patients with abnormal DSE is not related to gender, after adjusting for stress echocardiographic abnormalities.

Noninvasive evaluation of women with coronary artery disease

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death in women. More women than men die of CAD each year, and unlike men, the death rate has not declined for women but has remained stable over the last 20 years. Despite these statistics, much less is known about the prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of CAD in women. The noninvasive diagnosis of CAD in women is difficult secondary to differences in physiology, etiology, presenting symptoms, risk factor prevalence, comorbid conditions, hormonal status, and body habitus between women and men. Echocardiography and Tc-99m sestamibi single photon emission computed tomography imaging are two noninvasive imaging techniques commonly combined with exercise or pharmacologic agents (dobutamine, adenosine, dipyridamole) that have recently evolved to address these differences. These evolutions and the role of both techniques in the diagnosis and prognosis of women with CAD will be reviewed in this article.

[The role of dobutamine stress echocardiography in the clinical routine of a department of cardiology]

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to assess the role of dobutamine stress echocardiography (SE) for diagnosis and therapy of coronary artery disease (CAD) in the routine practice of a cardiological department in which bicycle stress-testing, scintigraphy and coronary angiography are available.

METHODS

Between January 1997 and September 1998, 123 patients (79 men, 44 women, 60.1 +/- 9.9 years) underwent SE. SE-indication, SE-result and the consequence of the SE were registered. A telephone follow-up, asking for events and cardiac interventions, took place after at least one year.

RESULTS

SE was performed in 57 patients with suspected CAD and in 66 patients with known CAD. The indications were inconclusive bicycle stress-testing or perfusion scintigrams (n = 77), search for hibernation (n = 22), discrepancy between presenting symptoms and results of previous investigations (n = 14) and preoperative risk stratification (n = 10). In the group with suspected CAD, the proportion of female patients was higher (p = 0.001), in the group with known CAD the proportion of male patients was higher (p = 0.002). SE showed an ischemic reaction in 35 patients, hibernation in 24 patients, no ischemic reaction in 56 patients and was inconclusive in 8 patients. The consequence of SE was recommendation for diagnostic coronary angiography (n = 27), revascularisation (n = 10), abstention from any invasive intervention (n = 77), noncardiac surgery (n = 9) and electrophysiological investigation (n = 1). During the investigated period, 955 bicycle stress-tests, 677 Thallium scintigrams and 987 coronary angiograms were carried out. During the follow-up (15 +/- 2.9 months) 4 patients died. In 6 patients cardiac interventions were carried out. No differences were observed regarding events and interventions depending on SE results and consequences.

CONCLUSIONS

At a cardiological department SE plays a role if findings are inconclusive and if hibernation or operative risk is looked for. A negative SE result most commonly leads to abstention from invasive intervention. If the SE result is positive, the recommendation for invasive intervention is also influenced by the clinical symptoms and the size of the ischemically reacting myocardium.

Pharmacologic stress testing for coronary disease diagnosis: A meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Although noninvasive pharmacologic stress tests are widely used, their relative performance is not clear. We compared the performance of pharmacologic stress tests combined with echocardiography or nuclear imaging for the diagnosis of coronary disease.

METHODS

We performed a regression meta-analysis of published data. We included studies published between January 1975 and June 1999 in which subjects underwent echocardiographic or single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) stress testing with adenosine, dipyridamole, or dobutamine for diagnosis of coronary artery disease. All subjects also underwent coronary angiography. Two independent reviewers abstracted population characteristics, technical factors, methodologic factors, and results and calculated test sensitivity and specificity.

RESULTS

Eighty-two studies met the inclusion criteria. The sensitivity of dipyridamole SPECT imaging, 89% (95% CI, 84%-93%), was higher than that of dipyridamole echocardiography, but the specificity of dipyridamole SPECT imaging, 65% (95% CI, 54%-74%), was lower than that of dipyridamole echocardiography. Dipyridamole and adenosine tests had similar sensitivities and specificities. The sensitivity of dobutamine echocardiography, 80% (95% CI, 77%-83%) was similar to that of dobutamine SPECT imaging, but dobutamine echocardiography had a higher specificity, 84% (95% CI, 80%-86%) than dobutamine SPECT imaging did.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of our study can be used to guide the selection of the optimal pharmacologic stress test for each patient. Maximum sensitivity can be attained by use of a vasodilator combined with SPECT imaging. Maximum specificity can be attained by use of a vasodilator with echocardiography. The highest combination of sensitivity and specificity can be attained with dobutamine echocardiography.

Dobutamine-atropine stress echocardiography and dipyridamole sestamibi scintigraphy for the detection of coronary artery disease: limitations and concordance

OBJECTIVES

We sought to compare dobutamine-atropine stress echocardiography (DASE) and dipyridamole Technetium 99-m (Tc-99m) sestamibi single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) scintigraphy (DMIBI) for detecting coronary artery disease (CAD).

BACKGROUND

Both DASE and DMIBI are effective for evaluating patients for CAD, but their concordance and limitations have not been directly compared.

METHODS

To investigate these aims, patients underwent multistage DASE, DMIBI and coronary angiography within three months. Dobutamine-atropine stress echocardiography and stress-rest DMIBI were performed according to standard techniques and analyzed for their accuracy in predicting the extent of CAD. Segments were assigned to vascular territories according to standard models. Angiography was performed using the Judkin's technique.

RESULTS

The 183 patients (mean age: 60 +/- 11 years, including 50 women) consisted of 64 patients with no coronary disease and 61 with single-, 40 with two- and 18 with three-vessel coronary disease. Dobutamine-atropine stress echocardiography and DMIBI were similarly sensitive (87%, 104/119 and 80%, 95/119, respectively) for the detection of CAD, but DASE was more specific (91%, 58/64 vs. 73%, 47/64, p < 0.01). Sensitivity was similar for the detection of CAD in patients with single-vessel disease (84%, 51/61 vs. 74%, 45/61, respectively) and multivessel disease (91%, 53/58 vs. 86%, 50/58, respectively). Multiple wall motion abnormalities and perfusion defects were similarly sensitive for multivessel disease (72%, 42/58 vs. 66%, 38/53, respectively), but, again, DASE was more specific than DMIBI (95%, 119/125 vs. 76%, 95/125, respectively, p < 0.01). Dobutamine-atropine stress echocardiography and DMIBI were moderately concordant for the detection and extent of CAD (Kappa 0.47, p < 0.0001) but were only fairly (Kappa 0.35, p < 0.001) concordant for the type of abnormalities (normal, fixed, ischemia or mixed).

CONCLUSIONS

Dobutamine-atropine stress echocardiography and DMIBI were comparable tests for the detection of CAD. Both were very sensitive for the detection of CAD and moderately sensitive for the extent of disease. The only advantage of DASE was greater specificity, especially for multivessel disease. Dobutamine-atropine stress echocardiography may be advantageous in patients with lower probabilities of CAD.

Diagnostic and prognostic use of stress echocardiography in stable patients

Stress echocardiography is an effective diagnostic and prognostic technique in stable patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease (CAD), myocardial infarction, or chronic left ventricular dysfunction and those undergoing noncardiac surgery. Stress echocardiography is sensitive and specific for the detection and extent of CAD. Negative tests confer a high negative predictive value for cardiac events regardless of the clinical risk. Positive studies confer a high positive predictive value for ischemic events in patients with intermediate to high clinical risk. Stress echocardiography provides incremental prognostic information relative to clinical, resting echocardiographic, and angiographic data. Meta-analysis studies have shown that the diagnostic and prognostic information provided by stress echocardiography is comparable to that from radionuclide scintigraphic stress tests. Stress echocardiography may be more specific for the detection and extent of CAD, whereas radionuclide scintigraphy may be more sensitive for one-vessel disease. Sensitivities are similar for the detection and extent of disease in patients with multivessel CAD.

Diagnostic and Prognostic Use of Stress Echocardiography and Radionuclide Scintigraphy

Stress echocardiography and radionuclide scintigraphy are effective diagnostic and prognostic techniques in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease (CAD), myocardial infarction (MI), chronic left ventricular dysfunction (LVD), and those undergoing noncardiac surgery. Both are sensitive and specific for the detection and extent of CAD. Negative tests confer a high negative predictive value for cardiac events irrespective of clinical risk. Positive studies confer a high positive predictive value for ischemic events in patients with intermediate to high clinical risk. Both provide incremental diagnostic and prognostic information relative to clinical, resting echocardiographic, and angiographic data. Meta-analysis studies have shown that the diagnostic and prognostic information provided by stress echocardiography is comparable with radionuclide scintigraphic stress tests. Stress echocardiography may be more specific for the detection and extent of CAD, whereas radionuclide scintigraphy may be more sensitive for single-vessel disease. Sensitivities are similar for the detection and extent of disease in patients with multivessel CAD.

Stress echocardiography in women

The diagnosis of coronary heart disease in women has been thought to be more difficult than in men, owing to the overall lower prevalence and severity of disease in women, as well as more subtle clinical presentations. Exercise electrocardiography is associated with a high rate of false-positive results. In contrast, exercise and pharmacologic stress echocardiography have been shown to have high sensitivity, specificity, and prognostic value in women, comparable to that obtained in a male population. Although exercise thallium provides high f disease accuracy, due to its cost, availability, and radiation exposure, it may not be the ideal initial test in women. Thus, compared with other modalities, the advantages of stress echocardiography include its lower cost, availability, and high diagnostic accuracy. In the evaluation of women with chest pain, the initial step should involve clinical stratification into low, moderate, or high-probability groups based on symptoms, age, and cardiovascular risk factors. In women with atypical chest pain and a low probability of coronary heart disease, further testing should be avoided because any positive result is likely to be falsely positive. In those women with a moderate likelihood of disease, the most efficient and cost-effective strategy includes stress echocardiography as the initial test. This approach avoids the high rate of false-positive results with subsequent unnecessary angiography generated by exercise electrocardiography, as well as minimalizing false-negative results, which would lead to delays and potential increase in morbidity and mortality from untreated coronary heart disease. The optimal strategy for women at high clinical risk may be either exercise echocardiography or cardiac catheterization as the initial test. Although the diagnosis of CAD in women is different than in men, it is not necessarily more difficult. Astute clinical evaluation, in conjunction with judicious use of diagnostic testing, yields excellent results.