Usefulness of preoperative noninvasive radionuclide testing for detecting coronary artery disease in candidates for liver transplantation.

This study, conducted in 87 candidates for liver transplantation, shows that neither stress perfusion imaging nor rest radionuclide ventriculography appear useful for preoperative cardiac risk assessment because most patients have normal studies and a favorable outcome. Routine myocardial function testing "to rule out cardiomyopathy" in asymptomatic (from a cardiac standpoint) patients with end-stage alcoholic liver disease should be abandoned.