[Diffuse slow washout pattern (DSWO) on exercise stress thallium-201 myocardial SPECT: correlative study with coronary arteriography and the related clinical factors].

DSWO was shown on bull's eye images of 98 of 1234 patients suspected of having coronary artery disease and examined with thallium-201 myocardial SPECT imaging. Fifty-eight of these 98 patients underwent coronary arteriography, and comparison studies were performed between the bull's eye SPECT images, the results of coronary arteriography and the laboratory data. DSWO was found in 11 of 58 cases (19.0%) of single vessel disease (1VD), 18 of 58 cases (31.0%) of double vessel disease (2VD) and 21 of 58 cases (36.2%) of triple vessel disease (3VD). Three of 58 cases (5.2%) of stenosis of a coronary artery less than 75% of its normal diameter (N group) also showed DSWO. DSWO was closely related with multiple vessel disease, as has been indicated by previous reports, but we also found another patient group that showed minor coronary arterial change (1VD and N group) and manifested DSWO. Based on the study of laboratory data, we clarified that this group of patients tended to show accompanying hypertension and hyperlipidemia as factors influencing the appearance of DSWO. DSWO was accompanied by hypertension and hyperlipidemia in 54.5% and 45.5% in 1VD. These values were higher than those in the 2VD and 3VD cases, which were 33.3% and 38.9% in 2VD, and 19.0% and 28.6% in 3VD, respectively. Hypertension and hyperlipidemia appeared to play an important role in causing DSWO by interfering with coronary circulation.