Myocardial Doppler velocity imaging--a quantitative technique for interpretation of dobutamine echocardiography.

Myocardial Doppler velocity (MDV) imaging was evaluated as a quantitative method for interpretation of dobutamine echocardiography by comparison with regional wall motion abnormalities in 70 patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease. Ischemic segments had the lowest increment of systolic MDV from rest to peak dose, and using a peak MDV of <12 cm/s to define an abnormal response, the sensitivity and specificity of MDV for ischemia was 86% and 96% for basal segments, and 81% and 89% for mid segments.