Prognostic value of dobutamine stress myocardial perfusion echocardiography in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease and normal left ventricular function

Objective We sought to determine the prognostic value of qualitative and quantitative analysis obtained by real-time myocardial perfusion echocardiography (RTMPE) in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease (CAD). Background Quantification of myocardial blood flow reserve (MBFR) in patients with CAD using RTMPE has been demonstrated to further improve accuracy over the analysis of wall motion (WM) and qualitative analysis of myocardial perfusion (QMP). Methods From March 2003 to December 2008, we prospectively studied 168 patients with normal left ventricular function (LVF) who underwent dobutamine stress RTMPE. The replenishment velocity reserve (β) and MBFR were derived from RTMPE. Acute coronary events were: cardiac death, myocardial infarction and unstable angina with need for urgent coronary revascularization. Results During a median follow-up of 34 months (5 days to 6.9 years), 17 acute coronary events occurred. Abnormal β reserve in ≥2 coronary territories was the only independent predictor of events hazard ratio (HR) = 21, 95% CI = 4.5-99; p<0.001). Both, abnormal β reserve and MBFR added significant incremental value in predicting events over qualitative analysis of WMand MP (Χ² = 6.6 and Χ² = 24.6, respectively; p = 0.001 and Χ² = 6.6 and Χ² = 15.5, respectively; p = 0.012, respectively). When coronary angiographic data was added to the multivariate analysis model, β reserve remained the only predictor of events with HR of 21.0 (95% CI = 4.5-99); p<0.001. Conclusion Quantitative dobutamine stress RTMPE provides incremental prognostic information over clinical variables, qualitative analysis ofWM and MP, and coronary angiography in predicting acute coronary events.