Achieving an exercise workload of > or = 10 metabolic equivalents predicts a very low risk of inducible ischemia: does myocardial perfusion imaging have a role?
OBJECTIVE
We sought to identify prospectively the prevalence of significant ischemia (> or =10% of the left ventricle [LV]) on exercise single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging relative to workload achieved in consecutive patients referred for myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI).


BACKGROUND
High exercise capacity is a strong predictor of a good prognosis, and the role of MPI in patients achieving high workloads is questionable.


METHODS
Prospective analysis was performed on 1,056 consecutive patients who underwent quantitative exercise gated (99m)Tc-SPECT MPI, of whom 974 attained > or =85% of their maximum age-predicted heart rate. These patients were further divided on the basis of attained exercise workload (<7, 7 to 9, or > or =10 metabolic equivalents [METs]) and were compared for exercise test and imaging outcomes, particularly the prevalence of > or =10% LV ischemia. Individuals reaching > or =10 METs but <85% maximum age-predicted heart rate were also assessed.


RESULTS
Of these 974 subjects, 473 (48.6%) achieved > or =10 METs. This subgroup had a very low prevalence of significant ischemia (2 of 473, 0.4%). Those attaining <7 METs had an 18-fold higher prevalence (7.1%, p < 0.001). Of the 430 patients reaching > or =10 METs without exercise ST-segment depression, none had > or =10% LV ischemia. In contrast, the prevalence of > or =10% LV ischemia was highest in the patients achieving <10 METs with ST-segment depression (14 of 70, 19.4%).


CONCLUSIONS
In this referral cohort of patients with an intermediate-to-high clinical risk of coronary artery disease, achieving > or =10 METs with no ischemic ST-segment depression was associated with a 0% prevalence of significant ischemia. Elimination of MPI in such patients, who represented 31% (430 of 1,396) of all patients undergoing exercise SPECT in this laboratory, could provide substantial cost-savings.
Bourque
Jamieson M
JM
Cardiovascular Division and the Cardiovascular Imaging Center, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA. jamieson2@gmail.com
Holland
Benjamin H
BH
Watson
Denny D
DD
Beller
George A
GA
D000368:Aged; D015444:Exercise; D017079:Exercise Tolerance / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055686:Metabolic Equivalent; D008875:Middle Aged; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012307:Risk Factors; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon