PROGNOSTIC-SIGNIFICANCE OF INCREASED TL-201 LUNG UPTAKE DURING DIPYRIDAMOLE MYOCARDIAL SCINTIGRAPHY - COMPARISON WITH EXERCISE SCINTIGRAPHY

OBJECTIVE: To compare the incidence of cardiac events among patients w ith increased lung uptake of thallium after dipyridamole stress, match ed subjects without such uptake and matched subjects with increased lu ng uptake during exercise stress. DESIGN: Retrospective case control s tudy based on quantitative and semiquantitative visual consensus analy sis of thallium scintigraphy. SETTING: Nuclear cardiology laboratory o f a university teaching hospital. PATIENTS: Thirty-six patients with i ncreased lung activity after dipyridamole stress and two groups of mat ched control subjects identified from 3150 consecutive thallium single photon emission computed tomography studies. INTERVENTIONS: Telephone follow-up and chart reviews to determine the incidence of cardiac eve nts. MAIN RESULTS: Cardiac events were significantly less frequent in the study group with increased lung uptake after dipyridamole stress ( two of 36, 5%) than in the control group with increased thallium lung uptake at exercise scintigraphy (nine of 36, 25%; P=0.046). CONCLUSION S: Increased lung uptake of thallium has less ominous short term progn ostic significance when observed in association with dipyridamole stre ss rather than with exercised.