Tehran University Medical Journal

Background: The most common methods for screening of patients with probable ischemic heart disease are stress test and in special conditions are perfusion scan, so that their positive results was important indication of coronary angiography. Although, predictive value of perfusion scan has been considered, with regard to the impact of technical and specialized factors and according to the spread of this technique that has wrongly replaced the stress test, it is necessary to compare predictive value of this method with stress test in our country.

Methods: In a cross-sectional study, patients referred to Tehran Heart Center from all centers of country between January 2004 and January 2005 for coronary angiography was included. Demographic characteristics of patients were collected by interview and clinical tests and analyzed in two genders. Then, positive predictive value (PPV) of both techniques was calculated and compared.

Results: The total number of positive perfusion scan and stress test were 2178 and 2581, respectively. It was not significant difference between PPV of perfusion scan and stress test in men (86.9% vs 86.6%, P=0.814). PPV of perfusion scan was higher than stress test only in women more than 60 years old (P=0.0002).

Conclusions: According to the results of this study and with regard to high cost of perfusion scan, it seems that in case the possibility of stress test, the use of perfusion scan had no advantages with the condition of our scan centers and especially in women, predictive value of these techniques were similar. However, it is necessary to consider the causes of this unusual finding according to the role of drugs, instruments, and specialists in the future.