Key result
Stress SPECT is as accurate for diagnostic purposes in elderly patients as in younger patients and more accurate for prognostic purposes compared with standard treadmill testing.
Why the study?
Does stress SPECT and PET improve diagnostic and prognostic accuracy compared to standard treadmill testing in elderly patients with coronary artery disease?
Does stress SPECT and PET improve diagnostic and prognostic accuracy compared to standard treadmill testing in elderly patients with coronary artery disease?
Stress SPECT and PET, particularly with pharmacologic stress, offer accurate diagnostic and prognostic assessment of coronary artery disease in elderly patients who often cannot perform adequate exercise testing.
May support stress SPECT for diagnosis and prognosis in elderly CAD patients unable to exercise; leaves open prospective validation versus treadmill testing.
Stress single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET), the standard clinical methods for measuring myocardial perfusion, have been extensively validated for diagnostic and prognostic purposes in general populations. Published data in the elderly are limited. The available data suggest that in elderly patients, SPECT is as accurate for diagnostic purposes as in younger patients and that stress SPECT is considerably more accurate for prognostic purposes when compared with standard treadmill testing. Pharmacologic stress testing can be performed in conjunction with SPECT and PET, representing another advantage of these techniques because many elderly patients cannot exercise to a high enough workload to provoke ischemia during testing.
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Miller et al. (2007) conducted a review in Coronary Artery Disease. Stress single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET) vs. Standard treadmill testing was evaluated on Diagnostic and prognostic accuracy. Stress SPECT is as accurate for diagnostic purposes in elderly patients as in younger patients and more accurate for prognostic purposes compared with standard treadmill testing.
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