Chest pain and myocardial scintigraphy: About 171 cases

Study aim: To find a correlation between epidemiological factors, risk factors and history and the results of myocardial scintigraphy according to the type of pain and discuss the role of scintigraphy in the diagnosis and therapeutic care. Patients and methods: Our study is retrospective, on 171 patients with typical chest pain (TCP) or atypical (ACP), addressed for myocardial scintigraphy. Results: Female predominance was clear. Average age was 59 years. Frequency of risk factors: smoking, diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, history of heart disease and hypothyroidism was respectively 21.6%, 39.8%, 73.7%, 25.1%, 11.1% and 6.4%. ACP was found in 57.9% of patients, it was more common among women (59.8%). Scintigraphy was abnormal in 36.8% of patients. Scintigraphy was normal in 59.7% of patients with TCP. In the case of ACP, scintigraphy was normal in 65.7%. This difference is not significant. All patients having abnormal scintigraphy had abnormal coronary angiography with a statistically significant correlation. Normal scintigraphy was more frequent (83.3%) in young patients (<. 40 years) and more common in women (67%) than men (55.9%). The sensitivity of scintigraphy is 100%. Its specificity is 66.6%. Its PPV of 57.1%. Its VPN is 100%. Conclusion: Myocardial scintigraphy can help clinicians to identify the etiologic diagnosis and assess the prognosis of chest pain. © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS.