Treadmill stress-echocardiography in diagnosis of coronary artery involvement in patients with various probability of ischemic heart disease

Results of treadmill stress-echocardiography were compared with those of coronary angiography in 153 patients (133 men, 20 women, mean age 55.7+/-8.5 years) with various initial probability of ischemic heart disease (IHD) which was determined for each patient basing on sex, age and status of angina. Probabilities of IHD greater than or equal to75% and >70-<75% were considered high and intermediate, respectively. According to coronary angiography 40 patients had no significant coronary artery stenoses while 32, 36 and 45 patients had hemodynamically significant single, double and triple vessel stenoses, respectively. The use of echocardiographic criteria of myocardial ischemia allowed to increase sensitivity of treadmill test in patients with high IHD probability from 74 to 91% (p<0.01) and its specificity in patients with intermediate IHD probability from 45 to 83% (p<0.001). Value of stress-echocardiography for diagnosis of the presence of stenotic lesions in coronary arteries depended on initial probability of IHD.