[Dobutamine stress echocardiography. Use of dobutamine stress echocardiography in diagnosis and assessment of ischemic heart disease].

Dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) is a new diagnostic method for evaluation of patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease. We studied 30 consecutive patients referred for evaluation of chest pain. Coronary angiography was carried out in 28 patients. DSE was performed the following day. Readable echocardiographic recordings were obtained in all patients. Blinded wall motion analysis revealed a diagnostic sensitivity of 91% (95% confidence limits: 79-100%) for dobutamine stress echocardiography using coronary angiography as reference. No severe adverse events or arrhythmias occurred. It is concluded that DSE is well tolerated, feasible and has a high sensitivity for detecting coronary artery disease.