CONTINUING EDUCATION Dobutamine Stress Myocardial Perfusion Imaging in Coronary Artery Disease*

The accurate noninvasive diagnosis and functional evaluation of coronary artery disease is an important step in selecting the appropriate management strategy. Dobutamine stress myocar-dial perfusion imaging is an alternative to exercise in patients with limited exercise capacity. In many centers, the test is performed on patients who have a contraindication for vasodi-lator stress testing. Recent studies have shown hyperemia in-duced by the standard dobutamine–atropine stress test is not less than hyperemia induced by dipyridamole. The feasibility of the test is 90 % and is often higher in patients without -blocker therapy. The safety of the test has been well studied and was also demonstrated in specific patients groups, such as patients with left ventricular dysfunction, the elderly, and heart transplant recipients. The diagnostic accuracy has been demonstrated in patients with and without myocardial infarction and in specific groups such as those with hypertension, left ventricular hyper-trophy, and heart transplant recipients and after revasculariza-tion. The technique has a high sensitivity for prediction of func-tional recovery in patients with myocardial dysfunction referred for revascularization. The presence and severity of myocardial perfusion abnormalities assessed by this method are powerful predictors of cardiac events, incremental to clinical data. This article describes the methodology, safety, feasibility, diagnostic accuracy, and prognostic value of dobutamine stress myocar-dial perfusion imaging in patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease, with additional considerations for the application of the test in specific patient groups. Key Words: dobutamine; stress tests; myocardial perfusion imaging; coronary artery diseas