Incremental value of ischemic stunning on the detection of severe and extensive coronary artery disease in dipyridamole Tl-201 gated myocardial perfusion imaging

The sensitivity of nuclear myocardial perfusion imaging in detecting coronary artery disease is high. However, false-negative results may be encountered if all the myocardial territories were uniformly affected. Ischemic stunning after dipyridamole-stress on gated SPECT may be an indicator of severe and extensive coronary artery disease, and can help the interpretation of borderline perfusion images and the elimination of false-negatives secondary to relatively balanced lesions in three-vessel disease.