Accuracy and usefulness of atrial pacing in conjunction with transesophageal echocardiography in the detection of cardiac ischemia (a comparative study with scintigraphic tomography and coronary arteriography)

A comparative study of transesophageal echocardiography with single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and coronary artereography was performed in a community outpatient setting to determine accuracy and feasibility of the technique. Forty-one of 55 patients underwent all 3 procedures within a 90-day period. Fourteen patients underwent only SPECT and were compared with transesophageal echocardiography with pacing (TEEP). Atrial esophageal pacing was performed with transesophageal echocardiography to increase double product and induce ischemia, which would manifest as abnormal wall motion. The results in these patients indicated a sensitivity and specificity of 92% and 87% for TEEP and 96% and 82% for SPECT, respectively, using angiography as the gold standard. In 14 patients, the sensitivity of TEEP using SPECT as standard was 80% and the specificity was 87%. The 1 view that appeared to pick up the highest yield of abnormalities was the transgastric short-axis view. Thus, TEEP is indicated in the detection of chronotropically incompetent patients and those unable to exercise whose transthoracic images are not optimal. It is highly accurate compared with angiography or SPECT.