A useful and easy to develop combined stress test for myocardial perfusion imaging: Regadenoson and isometric exercise, preliminary results

Regadenoson, a selective a2a receptor agonist, is a vasodilator increasingly used in myocardial perfusion imaging. adjunction of isometric exercise is a simple method that could improve side effect profile while providing better image quality. patients undergoing spect mpi were prospectively enrolled in handgrip-regadenoson (hg-reg test, n = 20) and regadenoson (reg) stress test (n = 40). investigator blinded to stress test analyzed clinical data and images. heart rate (hr) increase was statistically higher in the hg-reg group (27 vs 22 bpm, p = .019). decrease in sbp was less frequent in the hg-reg group than in the reg group (55% vs 85.5%, p = .005), there were less drops >10 mmhg (45% vs 77.7%, p = .012). during stress testing, fewer subjects reported at least one side effect in the hg-reg compared to reg group (70% vs 92.5%, p = .021). images were more often classified as good in the hg-reg group (75% vs 52.5% in the reg group, p = .25). adjunction of handgrip exercise to regadenoson administration is a well-tolerated and easy method, without loss of time. furthermore, image quality seems to be better.