Prognostic significance of exercise thallium-201 testing in patients aged greater than or equal to 70 years with known or suspected coronary artery disease

The prognostic value of exercise thallium-201 myocardial perfusion imaging has not been studied in an elderly (aged [is greater than or equal to]70 years) population. Retrospective analysis of 120 consecutive elderly patients undergoing Bruce protocol exercise stress with quantitative planar thallium-201 scintigraphy, followed clinically for a mean of 36 [+ or -] 12 months after testing, revealed a 10% cardiac event rate (6 cardiac deaths from arrhythmia or congestive heart failure, and 5 fatal and 1 nonfatal myocardial infarction). There were no exercise stress-related complications. Survival without cardiac events was associated with greater exercise duration (5.6 [+ or -] 2.4 vs 3.1 [+ or -] 2.4 minutes; p 15%, respectively.