Ischemia burden on stress SPECT MPI predicts long-term outcomes after revascularization in stable coronary artery disease

It is not entirely clear whether ischemia burden on stress single-photon emission computed tomography (spect) effectively identifies patients who have a long-term benefit from coronary revascularization. the study population consisted of 719 patients with ischemia on stress spect. early coronary revascularization was defined as percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary artery bypass grafting ≤90 days after spect. patients who underwent late revascularization (>90 days after spect) were excluded (n = 164). of the 538 patients (73% men, mean age 59.8 ± 11 years), 348 patients had low ischemia burden (<3 ischemic segments) and 190 patients had moderate to high ischemia burden (≥3 ischemic segments). a total of 76 patients underwent early revascularization. during a median follow-up of 12 years (range 4-17), 283 patients died of whom 125 due to cardiac causes. early revascularization was beneficial on all-cause mortality (hr 0.46, 95% ci 0.30-0.46) and cardiac mortality (hr 0.54, 95% ci 0.29-0.99). patients with myocardial ischemia on stress spect who underwent early revascularization had a lower all-cause mortality and cardiac mortality during long-term follow-up as compared to patients who received pharmacological therapy alone. this difference in long-term outcomes was mainly influenced by the survival benefit of early revascularization in the patients with moderate to high ischemia burden.