The Utilization of Stress Tests Prior to Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Stable Coronary Artery Disease in Taiwan.

Background: Ischemia shown in non-invasive tests is considered to be a fundamental requirement for treating patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) with a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). In a nationwide cohort, we investigated the utilization of stress tests, including myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI), treadmill exercise test (TET) and stress echocardiography (SE) prior to elective PCI.

Methods: This retrospective study used the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2000 (LHID2000) of the National Health Insurance program in Taiwan. The LHID2000 is comprised of one million randomly sampled beneficiaries. We enrolled patients receiving elective PCI for stable CAD from 2000 to 2013. Stress tests performed within 90 days prior to PCI and patient characteristics correlated with the utilization of stress tests were investigated.

Results: During the investigation period, 3,163 patients received elective PCI for stable CAD and 1,847 (58.4%) patients had at least one stress test within 90 days prior to PCI. Among them, 1,461 (79.1%) had MPI, 1,228 had TET (66.4%) and only 1 had SE (0.05%). Age < 80 years, regional hospital and hyperlipidemia were independently associated with an increased likelihood of receiving stress tests. On the other hand, Charlson-comorbidity index score ≥ 1, prior catheterization and heart failure were independently associated with a decreased likelihood of receiving stress tests.

Conclusions: In the setting of stable CAD, almost 60% of our patients received stress tests within 90 days prior to elective PCI, and MPI was the most commonly used test.