Why the study?
Does the dipyridamole-echocardiography test accurately detect coronary artery disease?
Does the dipyridamole-echocardiography test accurately detect coronary artery disease?
This review outlines the historical background and physiologic basis of the dipyridamole-echocardiography test for diagnosing coronary artery disease.
May inform dipyridamole-echocardiography for CAD detection; leaves open contemporary accuracy and requires prospective validation.
Dipyridamole was first introduced as an antianginal, coronary vasodilator agent. It was soon found that this drug could not prevent effort ischaemia; on the contrary, given intravenously, it could frequently induce ischaemia in the presence of coronary artery stenosis. This property was exploited for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease. The dipyridamole-induced ischaemia was detected by different techniques: ST-segment depression, thallium 201 scintigraphy and echocardiography. This review article describes the mechanisms underlying dipyridamole-induced ischaemia and discusses the value of this pharmacologic stress test for the detection of coronary artery disease.
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A 1989 study studied this question.
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