Dipyridamole Radionuclide Ventriculography in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease: Comparison with Ergometer Exercise

Abstract

Intravenous administration of dipyridamole during radionuclide ventriculog raphy (RNV) was performed in 26 consecutive patients with symptomatic coro nary artery disease. The authors compared the results of dipyridamole-RNV with those of ergometer exercise-RNV in detecting myocardial ischemia. During exercise, ST depression, regional wall motion (RWM) abnormalities, and de creased left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) were observed in 21 (81%), 23 (88%), and 20 (77%) patients, respectively. However, after intravenous di pyridamole, ST depression, RWM abnormalities, and decreased LVEF were observed in 14 (54%), 15 (58%), and 2 (8%) patients, respectively. Although LVEF usually decreases during myocardial ischemia, LVEF did not decrease (57 ± 11% to 58 ± 10%), even in patients with ST depression, after intravenous dipyridamole. Maintained left ventricular ejection fraction is considered to be a hemodynamic effect of the potent arterial vasodilatation induced by di pyridamole.

These results from dipyridamole-RNV in myocardial ischemia seem to con flict with the results from dipyridamole-thallium studies carried out to deter mine the capacity to detect coronary artery disease. Unknown mechanisms of dipyridamole other than the coronary steal phenomenon may be operative in the genesis of myocardial ischemia.