[The 3-year prognosis of patients with suspected coronary disease and a normal myocardial scintigraphy with thallium-dipyridamole].

OBJECTIVES

To assess the 3-year prognosis of patients with suspected coronary artery disease and a normal dipyridamole-thallium scintigram.

POPULATION

43 patients, 16 male and 27 female, mean age 55.8 +/- 9.2 years with suspected coronary artery disease. Forty-two patients had anginal complaints. There was a previous positive treadmill exercise test in 14 patients. All the patients had a normal dipyridamole-thallium SPECT.

METHODS

Dipyridamole was infused at a rate of 0.56 mg/kg in 4 minutes followed by 3 minutes of low-level cycloergometer exercise. Two mCi of thallium-201 were injected 3 minutes after the end of dipyridamole infusion. Stress and redistribution SPECT acquisitions were performed respectively 5-10 minutes and 4 hours after thallium-201 injection. The cardiac events during a 3-year follow-up were analysed.

RESULTS

No patient had unstable angina, PTCA, CABG or death. One patient suffered an inferior myocardial infarction 28 months after the scintigraphy. The event rate was 0.78% per patient per year.

CONCLUSION

Three-year prognosis in patients with suspected coronary artery disease after a normal dipyridamole thallium SPECT is excellent approaching that of the general population.