title: Reliability of stress thallium-201 scanning in the clinical evaluation of coronary artery disease.
abstract: Stress thallium-201 scanning proved to be a highly sensitive and specific screening procedure for myocardial ischemia in 52 consecutive cases with coronary arteriograms. Stress thallium-201 scanning was considerably more accurate and more specific than the exercise electrocardiogram (ECG) as evidenced by a sensitivity of 83% compared to 55%, and a specificity of 94% compared to 82%. When submaximal stress tests were excluded, improved sensitivity of thallium scan to exercise ECG was 95% to 64% with no change in specificity. Factors producing negative thallium scans in the presence of coronary artery disease were: delay in obtaining the first post-exercise scan, positioning and observing variability, severe three-vessel disease uniformly affecting all myocardial segments, and failure to achieve maximal stress testing due to attenuation of the heart-rate response by propranolol or somatic complaints.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000792:Angiography; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005080:Exercise Test; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D005082:Physical Exertion; D011868:Radioisotopes; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D013793:Thallium
chemical_list: D011868:Radioisotopes; D013793:Thallium