Isoproterenol infusion stress two-dimensional echocardiography in diagnosis of coronary artery disease in elderly patients. Comparison with the other stress testing methods.
Since a dynamic exercise stress test cannot always be performed adequately in elderly patients, an alternative method is needed for evaluation of coronary reserve. We studied two-dimensional echocardiographic (2-DE) and electrocardiographic (ECG) responses to infusion of isoproterenol (ISP) at a rate of 0.02 micrograms/Kg/min in 40 elderly patients with chest pain. The results were compared with exercise ECG (EX-ECG) tests and exercise radionuclide angiocardiography (EX-RNA) in 13 of these patients. No serious complications were encountered in the ISP test. The diagnostic sensitivity for coronary artery disease (CAD) was 71% for ISP-2-DE, 71% for ISP-ECG, 86% for EX-ECG and 71% for EX-RNA. The specificity for CAD was 83% for ISP-2-DE, 33% for ISP-ECG, 50% for EX-ECG and 100% for EX-RNA. In conclusion, the ISP-2-DE test is a safe, easily available and useful method for the assessment of coronary artery disease in elderly patients.
D000368:Aged; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D004452:Echocardiography; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007545:Isoproterenol; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011875:Radionuclide Angiography
D007545:Isoproterenol