Myocardial ischemia in Kawasaki disease: Evaluation with dipyridamole stress technetium 99m tetrofosmin scintigraphy

Background. The coronary artery abnormalities in Kawasaki disease (KD) often cause myocardial ischemia. Previous publications have described the use of thallium 201 myocardial perfusion imaging to determine the extent of ischemia in patients with KD. The technetium perfusion agents offer better resolution and may offer additional information about ventricular function in these patients. This study was performed to evaluate myocardial perfusion in patients with KD through use of technetium 99m tetrofosmin (TF) in conjunction with dipyridamole vasodilator stress. Methods and Results. Eighty-six patients with KD aged 11.5 +/- 6.4 years and 20 age-matched control patients without heart disease were studied. Among 86 patients with KD, significant coronary artery stenosis (greater than or equal to75%) was observed in 20, coronary aneurysm without stenosis in 37, and no coronary lesions in 29. After administration of high-dose dipyridamole infusion (0.70 mg/kg), 74 to 370 MBq TF was injected and 148 to 740 MBq TF was injected at rest 4 hours later. Single photon emission computed tomography images were obtained more than 30 minutes after TF injection. Regional myocardial hypoperfusion was observed in 18 patients who had coronary artery stenosis of 75% or greater (sensitivity, 90%, and specificity, 100%). Two patients did not demonstrate ischemic changes in coronary artery stenosis in group 1; one had good collateral flow. There were no TF injection-related complications. Conclusions. Tetrofosmin myocardial perfusion imaging can detect regional hypoperfusion in children with KD.