Effect of Dobutamine on Signal-Averaged Electrocardiogram of Patients with Suspected Coronary Artery Disease

Abstract

Signal-averaged electrocardiogram (SAECG) has been used to predict future malignant ventricular arrhythmias in patients with heart disease. Since catecholamines have been implicated as one of the provoking factors for ventricular arrhythmic sudden death under a variety of situations, this study was undertaken to detect if dobutamine would provoke late potentials on the SAECG of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease undergoing dobutamine stress testing for evaluation of chest pain suspected to be due to coronary artery disease. With the exception of 2 patients, dobutamine failed to provoke late potentials on SAECG in this group of patients. This small study suggests that SAECG may not be helpful for risk stratification of patients undergoing dobutamine stress testing for suspected coronary artery disease.