Dobutamine cardiovascular magnetic resonance for the detection of myocardial ischemia with the use of myocardial tagging.
BACKGROUND
The purpose of this study was to assess the value of high-dose dobutamine cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) with myocardial tagging for the detection of wall motion abnormalities as a measure of myocardial ischemia in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease.


RESULTS
Two hundred eleven consecutive patients with chest pain underwent dobutamine-CMR 4 days after antianginal medication was stopped. Dobutamine-CMR was performed at rest and during increasing doses of dobutamine. Cine-images were acquired during breath-hold with and without myocardial tagging at 3 short-axis levels. Regional wall motion was assessed in a 16-segment short-axis model. Patients with new wall motion abnormalities (NWMA) were examined by coronary angiography. Dobutamine-CMR was successfully performed in 194 patients. Dobutamine-CMR without tagging detected NWMA in 58 patients, whereas NWMA were detected in 68 patients with tagging (P=0.002, McNemar). Coronary angiography showed coronary artery disease in 65 (96%) of these 68 patients. All but 3 of the 65 patients needed revascularization. In the 112 patients with a negative dobutamine-CMR study, without baseline wall motion abnormalities, the cardiovascular occurrence-free survival rate was 98.2% during the mean follow-up period of 17.3 months (range, 7 to 31).


CONCLUSIONS
Dobutamine-CMR with myocardial tagging detected more NWMA compared with dobutamine-CMR without tagging and reliably separated patients with a normal life expectancy from those at increased risk of major adverse cardiac events.
Kuijpers
Dirkjan
D
Department of Radiology, University Hospital Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9713GZ Groningen, The Netherlands. kps@xs4all.nl
Ho
Kai Yiu J A M
KY
van Dijkman
Paul R M
PR
Vliegenthart
Rozemarijn
R
Oudkerk
Matthijs
M
D017023:Coronary Angiography; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D004280:Dobutamine; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009038:Motion; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000401:mortality; D015996:Survival Rate
D004280:Dobutamine