Myocardial perfusion imaging with higenamine hydrochloride stress studies in diagnosis of coronary artery disease

Objective: To evaluate the stress test efficacy and safety of higenamine hydrochloride, MPI studies were performed in patients with coronary artery disease. Methods: Sixty-eight patients with suspected coronary artery disease, confirmed by CAG, underwent both higenamine hydrochloride and placebo stress MPI. The diagnostic efficacy of MPI was calculated. The χ² test and t test, calculated with SPSS 16.0, were used to compare the difference between the two groups. Results: With CAG as the gold standard, the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive and negative predictive values of higenamine hydrochloride stress studies were 65.52% (19/29), 84.85% (28/33), 75.81% (47/62), 79.17% (19/24) and 73.68% (28/38). There was a statistically significant difference for the sensitivity between the stress group and placebo group (21.43%, 6/28; χ²=11.246, P=0.001). In the higenamine hydrochloride stress group, the sensitivity was 52.94% (9/17), 6/8 and 4/5 in diagnosing single-vessel, double-vessel and triple-vessel disease, respectively. The severity of coronary lesions was evaluated with higenamine hydrochloride stress,the sensitivity was 43.33% (13/30) for ≥50% and <75% stenosis lesions and 72.22% (13/18) for ≥75% ones. There was no significant difference between the sensitivities (χ²=3.782, P>0.05). The side effects of higenamine hydrochloride, which included transient chest tightness, chest pain,palpitation or dizziness,were found in 25 cases (40.32%, 25/62). Conclusions: Higenamine hydrochloride stress MPI shows high efficacy and safety for the detection of coronary artery disease with few side effects. Higenamine hydrochloride might be another prospective stress agent for clinical application in drug stress MPI. (authors)