title: Pharmacologic manipulation of coronary vascular physiology for the evaluation of coronary artery disease.
abstract: During the last forty years tremendous progress has been made in our understanding of coronary atherosclerosis and in the development of methods to characterize atherosclerotic disease burden and risk. Stress testing is designed to elucidate abnormalities in myocardial perfusion during stress due to abnormal coronary vasomotor response. We summarize the underlying determinants of normal coronary vasomotor tone as well as its responsiveness to both exercise and pharmacologic stressors. We introduce the various methods of assessing the presence of myocardial ischemia. A detailed discussion of the most commonly used stress agents as well as their clinical advantages and limitations follows.
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Imaging Program, Department of Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Division, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Cardiovascular Imaging Program, Department of Radiology, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Hoshang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Farhad
authors.forename: Venkatesh L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Murthy
mesh_terms: D058908:Adenosine A2 Receptor Agonists; D000818:Animals; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011687:Purines; D011720:Pyrazoles
chemical_list: D058908:Adenosine A2 Receptor Agonists; D011687:Purines; D011720:Pyrazoles; C430916:regadenoson
keywords: Atherosclerosis; Coronary artery disease; Exercise; Inotropic agents; Stress testing; Vasodilators