title: Warranty periods for normal myocardial perfusion stress SPECT.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To assess different warranty periods following a normal myocardial perfusion SPECT based on patients' clinical characteristics and the type of stress performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A study was done of 2,922 consecutive patients (62.9 ± 13 years; 53.4% women) with a normal stress-rest SPECT. The warranty period was defined as the period during which patients remained at a low risk (<1% events/year) of total mortality (TM), or hard events (HE) (cardiac death or non-fatal myocardial infarction). Of these patients, 2,051 were given an exercise myocardial perfusion imaging (Ex-MPI); 461 submaximal exercise plus dipyridamole (Ex+Dipy-MPI); and 410 dipyridamole (Dipy-MPI). During a mean follow-up of 5 ± 3.3 years, a significant reduction (P < .05) of the warranty period for TM (13.5, 9.6 and 8 months) and HE (34.8, 20.5 and 8.2 months) was observed, for Ex-MPI, Ex+Dipy-MPI and Dipy-MPI, respectively. Other warranty period determinants were the clinical variables of age, sex, diabetes and known coronary artery disease. An abnormal left ventricular ejection fraction on gated-SPECT also significantly shortened the warranty period for HE in patients undergoing Ex+Dipy-MPI (P = .001) or Dipy-MPI alone (P = .007).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The warranty period for a normal stress-rest SPECT is highly variable since it is primarily determined by the type of stress, the patient's clinical characteristics and LVEF.
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Department, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Paseo Vall d'Hebron 119-129, 08035 Barcelona, Spain. guirom@adinet.com.uy
authors.forename: Guillermo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Romero-Farina
authors.forename: Jaume
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Candell-Riera
authors.forename: Santiago
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aguadé-Bruix
authors.forename: Ignacio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ferreira-González
authors.forename: Gemma
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cuberas-Borrós
authors.forename: Nazarena
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pizzi
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: García-Dorado
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D048909:Diabetes Complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D004176:Dipyridamole / Q000737:chemistry; D015444:Exercise; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D055414:Myocardial Perfusion Imaging; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D013997:Time Factors; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
chemical_list: D004176:Dipyridamole