Additional Value of Brachial-Ankle Pulse Wave Velocity to Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography in the Diagnosis of Coronary Artery Disease

AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate whether information on arterial stiffness can improve the value of single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in the detection of obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). METHODS: A total of 233 patients (age: 62.2±10.8 years, 60.3% males) with detected ischemia on SPECT undergoing invasive coronary angiography (ICA) and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) measurement within a month was retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: Of the 233 patients, 190 (81.5%) had obstructive CAD (≥50% luminal stenosis). The difference in baPWV according to the presence of obstructive CAD was significant in patients in the mild ischemia group [summed stress score (SSS): 4-8] (1,770±364 cm versus 1,490±328 cm, p＜0.001) but not in the moderate (SSS: 9-13) or severe (SSS: ≥14) ischemia groups (p＞0.05 for each). Receiver operating characteristic curve analyses showed that the diagnostic value of baPWV for obstructive CAD was significant only in patients in the mild ischemia group (area under curve: 0.714; p=0.001) but not in the moderate or severe ischemia groups (p＞0.05 for each). Adding information on baPWV to SPECT results and clinical parameters significantly increased diagnostic accuracy in the detection of obstructive CAD in patients with mild ischemia (integrated discrimination improvement p=0.006) but not in those with moderate or severe ischemia on SPECT (p＞0.05 for each). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that baPWV may have additional value to SPECT for the detection of obstructive CAD, especially in patients with mild ischemia on SPECT.