Article Text
Abstract
Objective: To establish further the role of dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE) in prognostication of outcome early after acute myocardial infarction (AMI)
Methods: Consecutive patients presenting with AMI were screened for inclusion into the study. 212 stable consenting patients underwent DSE a mean (SD) of 4.8 (1.5) days after AMI. Patients were then followed up for 803 (297) days.
Results: The mean (SD) resting systolic wall thickening index (SWTI) was 1.6 (0.4), 44% patients had evidence of viability at low dose, and 38% had evidence of ischaemia. During the follow up period 27 (13%) patients died and 16 (8%) had a non-fatal AMI. Independent predictors of both mortality and combined mortality and non-fatal AMI were age (hazard ratio (HR) 1.04/year, p = 0.01, and HR 1.03/year, p = 0.04, respectively) and SWTI at low dose (HR 3.6, p < 0.01, and HR 2.5, p = 0.02, respectively). Low dose DSE provided incremental information over clinical and resting left ventricular function data for predicting death and non-fatal AMI. For patients who were not revascularised SWTI at peak dose dobutamine was the only independent predictor of mortality.
Conclusion: DSE is a powerful predictor of outcome in stable survivors of AMI. The presence of myocardial viability has a positive impact on survival.
- AMI, acute myocardial infarction
- CI, confidence interval
- DSE, dobutamine stress echocardiography
- EDIC, echo dobutamine international cooperative
- HR, hazard ratio
- LVEF, left ventricular ejection fraction
- SWTI, systolic wall thickening index
- acute myocardial infarction
- dobutamine stress echocardiography
- myocardial viability
- ischaemia
- prognosis
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Footnotes
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Published Online First 14 April 2005
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This study is funded by the Cardiac Research Fund.