CORRELATION OF WALL MOTION ABNORMALITY BY STRESS ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY AND ANATOMIC SITE OF CORONARY ARTERY LESIONS

Abstract

Background- Stress echocardiography is one of the non-invasive methods to diagnose coronary artery disease. Myocardial wall motion abnormality, caused by pharmacological and non-pharmacological procedures performed upon the patients suffering from coronary artery disease, is observed and analyzed by this method.<br />Patients and Material- One hundred and three cases, who had undergone stress echocardiography, were researched on over one year in the stress echocardiography unit of Rajai Heart Center. We compared the results of the stress echocardiography and the results of the angiography. The patients' ages varied from 32 to 73 years (mean 48.9). The two methods of exercise stress echocardiography and dobutamine stress echocardiography were adopted.<br />Results- In this analysis, the sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of CAD were respectively 89.4 and 82.5 percent. The sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of LAD lesions were 79.6 and 87, for RCA lesions 80.6 and 82.3 and for LCX lesions 58.1 and 89 percent respectively. The sensitivity and specifity for the diagnosis of the posterior circulation system (RCA and LCX territories) were 90% and 75% respectively. During the study, no severe complications (VF, MI, death) occurred; however, one case suffering severe ischemia ended up in CCU. Moreover, arrhythmia in 3 patients (2.9%), hypertension in 9 patients (8.8%), for one of whom the test was interrupted due to severe hypertension, hypotension in one patient (1%), and non-cardiac complications such as vertigo, nausea and headache in 13 patients (12.6%) were reported.<br />Conclusion- Considering the results gained in this study, and also the low rate of complications and similar results with radionuclide scanning, which has proved more expensive and apt to make patients exposed to radiation, this test as a non-invasive test before coronary angiography is recommended.