Detection of myocardial ischemia in the elderly versus the young by stress thallium-201 scintigraphy and its relation to important coronary artery disease.

The prevalence and severity of coronary atherosclerosis increase dramatically with age, so that more than half of all deaths in persons aged over 65 are due to coronary arterial disease (CAD) and about three fourths of all deaths from CAD occur in the elderly. The aims of our study were, first, to detect myocardial ischemia development in elderly versus younger patients undergoing treatment for known CAD through the use of both conventional treadmill testing and 201T1 scintigraphy, and second, to determine the relationship between the above non-invasive tests and angiographically confirmed important coronary artery disease (iCAD). A database of 606 patients (355 men and 251 women) who had undergone coronary angiography, exercise ECG testing (ETT) using the treadmill Bruce protocol, and 201T1 scintigraphy, was reviewed retrospectively.