Dobutamine stress quantitative strain rate imaging for detecting coronary artery disease in the elderly

Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of dobutamine stress echocardiograpy(DSE) + strain rate imaging(SRI) for detecting coronary artery disease(CAD) in elderly.Methods A total of 98 elderly patients(≥60 years) underwent DSE + SRI.All patients completed coronary angiography(CAG) within two weeks after DSE + SRI. Peak strain rate(SRpeak) at different dobutamine dose was measured and analyzed during systolic period in mid-segment of left ventricle wall by echopac 8.0 workstation.Results According to the results of CAG,the sensitivity,specificity and accuracy of SRpeak for detecting CAD in elderly patients were 71.7%,82.2%and 78.0%,respectively.The sensitivity and specificity at different dobutamine dose were different and at the dose of 40μg·kg~(-1)·min~(-1),SRpeak achieved maximum sensitivity(75.0%) and specificity(90.4%).SRpeak had higher specificity for detecting three vessel disease. Conclusions DSE + SRI is a safe,effective and non-invasive method for detecting CAD in elderly.