Low dose dobutamine echocardiography is more predictive of reversible dysfunction after acute myocardial infarction than resting single photon emission computed tomographic thallium-201 scintigraphy.

To directly compare dobutamine echocardiography and resting single photon emission computed tomographic (SPECT) thallium-201 (Tl-201) scintigraphy for the detection of reversible dysfunction, 64 patients underwent dobutomine echocardiography (baseline, low dose 5 and 10 mg/kg/min, and peak dose), rest Tl-201 scintigraphy (3 mCi - 15 minute and 3- to 4-hour SPECT imaging), and coronary angiography during the first week after acute myocardial infarction. Follow-up echocardiography was performed 4 to 8 weeks after discharge. Wall thickening improved at follow-up in 52% (207 of 399) of the dysfunctional segments. By receiver operating characteristic analysis, biphasic responses and sustained improvement during dobutamine echocardiography were more accurate (p < 0.01) than Tl-201 uptake by SPECT scintigraphy for reversible dysfunction. The greater accuracy of dobutamine echocardiography resulted from higher accuracy in akinetic segments, Q wave infarction, and multivessel coronary artery disease. In conclusion, dobutamine echocardiography was more accurate than resting SPECT Tl-201 scintigraphy for reversible dysfunction after acute myocardial infarction.