Accuracy of Stress Echocardiography in Detecting Ischemic Heart Disease, Experience at the Bangkok Heart Hospital 2012

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Stress echocardiography is a good test for detecting ischemic heart disease. The sensitivity, specicity and accuracy should be veried. This test was compared to standard coronary angiographic results. This is the rst study by Bangkok Heart Hospital’s echocardiography lab to verify the effectiveness of stress echocardiography.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study was a retrospective study that reviewed data from records. The 149 selected cases underwent stress echocardiography and a coronary angiogram (within 2 months after the stress echocardiography) between 1st January and 31st December 2012. The sensitivity, specicity and accuracy were assessed.

RESULTS: The overall sensitivity, specicity, and accuracy were 81.98%, 42.10%, and 71.81% respectively. There was a variation of sensitivity, specicity and accuracy in each day of the week. There were many factors such as number of cases, reporting physicians, technically poor studies (including poor echogenicity of subject), technician experience, abnormal wall motion at rest, atrial brillation and bundle branch block. The sensitivity ranged from 57.14 % to 92.3%. The specicity ranged from 16.67% to 70%. The accuracy ranged from 50.0 % to 86.67 %.

CONCLUSION: Stress echocardiography is a good test for evaluating ischemic heart disease. Our echo lab had lower sensitivity, specicity and accuracy than other previous studies. The limitation of this study was that it was a retrospective study. But it showed our routine work. We hope this will help our echo lab to improve the quality of its stress echocardiography testing.