title: 201Tl myocardial SPECT and beta-endorphin levels in patients with suspected silent ischemia.
abstract: Today silent myocardial ischemia (SMI) is a well-recognized phenomenon. However, in the absence of clinical signs suggesting coronary artery disease (CAD), a streamlined diagnostic approach for precise clarification has proved to be difficult. Sensitivity and specificity of ergometric results are rather poor in symptom-free patients. Thus the question arises, whether the necessity of coronary angiography can be established more precisely by 201Tl myocardial SPECT in these patients. Treadmill exercise according to the Bruce protocol, 201Tl myocardial SPECT and coronary angiography were performed in a total of 106 patients with suspected SMI. In group I (high probability of ischemia; n = 46), reversible defects detected by SPECT correlated well with significant stenoses and irreversible defects with subtotal stenoses or complete occlusions. SPECT sensitivity in the detection of ischemia was 91%, its specificity 96%. In group II (low probability of ischemia; n = 60), SPECT sensitivity was as high as in group I (94%) but due to a high number of false-positive results (e.g. cardiomyopathy) specificity was only 75%. However, SPECT was superior to exercise ECG (sensitivity 70%; specificity 56%) in the detection of SMI. In addition, beta-endorphin levels were determined in 180 healthy subjects, 37 patients with symptomatic CAD and in 34 patients with SMI before and during maximum exercise. Exercise values in patients with SMI were significantly higher than in healthy subjects or in patients with symptomatic CAD.
authors.affiliation: Internal Department/Nuclear Medicine, Barmherzige Brüder Hospital, Graz-Eggenberg, Austria.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lind
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Eber
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Binter
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Költringer
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Brandt
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Eber
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013794:Thallium Radioisotopes; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon; D001615:beta-Endorphin / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D013794:Thallium Radioisotopes; D001615:beta-Endorphin