USEFULNESS OF DIPYRIDAMOLE-THALLIUM IMAGING IN 257 PATIENTS WITH ATHEROSCLEROTIC VASCULAR-DISEASE

We evaluated the usefulness of dipyridamole-thallium imaging for the d etection of ischaemic heart disease in 257 patients with atherosclerot ic vascular disease (80 patients with arteriosclerosis obliterans, 81 patients with aneurysm of the abdominal aorta, 60 patients with aneury sm of the thoracic aorta and 36 patients with dissecting aortic aneury sm). Clinical evidence of ischaemic heart disease was found in 69 of 2 57 (27%) patients, including 32 patients with arteriosclerosis obliter ans, 23 with aneurysm of the abdominal aorta, 9 with aneurysm of the t horacic aorta and 5 with dissecting aortic aneurysm. Dipyridamole-thal lium imaging identified myocardial ischaemia in 49 of 69 (71%) patient s with clinical evidence of ischaemic heart disease. Dipyridamole-thal lium imaging showed positive results in 67 of 81 (83%) patients with a neurysm of the abdominal aorta. In patients with no clinical evidence of ischaemic heart disease, the results of dipyridamole-thallium imagi ng were positive in 39 of 188 (21%) patients. Dipyridamole-thallium im aging was positive in 90 of the 257 (35%) patients as a whole. When we combined the patients with positive dipyridamole-thallium imaging wit h those with negative dipyridamole-thallium imaging but who had clinic al evidence of ischaemic heart disease, 42% of all patients had eviden ce of ischaemic heart disease. Our findings suggest that atherosclerot ic vascular disease is strongly associated with ischaemic heart diseas e and that dipyridamole-thallium imaging is useful for the detection o f ischaemic heart disease.