ArticleWainwright RJ, Brennand-Roper DA, Cueni TA, Sowton E, Hilson AJ, Maisey MN.
Lancet. 1979 Aug 18;2(8138):320-3.
50 normotensive subjects (22 controls with no cardiac disease, 24 patients with coronary heart-disease, and 4 with early cardiomyopathy) were investigated with gated cardiac blood-pool scintigraphy before and during cold pressor stimulation. The controls had no change or a significant rise (p less than 0.005) in left ventricular ejection fraction and preserved normal myocardial-wall motion, whereas patients with coronary-artery disease or cardiomyopathy had a significant fall (p less than 0.001) in left ventricular ejection fraction and many developed abnormal regional wall motion despite the absence of angina pectoris. Cold pressor gated cardiac blood-pool studies were more sensitive than single-lead exercise electrocardiography (p = 0.03) in the detection of patients with severe coronary-artery disease without previous myocardial infarction.