Introduction:
Non-invasive testing for ischemia to diagnose coronary artery disease(CAD) are frequently inconclusive(25%).
Hypothesis:
To assess the prognostic value of stress CMR in patients with a first inconclusive stress test.
Methods:
Between 2008 and 2018, consecutive patients with inconclusive stress test, defined by stress echocardiography or nuclear testing with uncertain conclusion, prospectively referred for stress CMR with dipyridamole were followed for major adverse cardiovascular events(MACE): cardiac death or myocardial infarction. An unsupervised clustering analysis was performed.
Results:
Of 1502 patients (62±12yrs, 59%men), 1397 completed the follow-up (median 5.5±2.3yrs). Three clusters were identified: Cluster 1 (n=524) had the highest prevalence of previous PCI, the highest presence of a myocardial scar defined, the lowest LVEF (35±7%) and the highest LV dilatation. Cluster 2 (n=406) had the highest previous CABG prevalence, preserved LVEF, absence of LV dilatation, and presence of myocardial scar. This cluster comprised predominantly male patients, with the highest rate of hypertension. Cluster 3 (n=572) had the lowest rate of previous PCI/CABG, the lowest rate of myocardial scar, predominantly female, the highest atrial fibrillation rate and body mass index. Survival analysis found significant differences across clusters for the occurrence of MACE (p=0.02). Inducible ischemia was associated with MACE occurrence in each cluster (C1, HR 2.28; 95%CI[1.31-3.99]; p=0.0028; C2, HR 3.37; 95%CI[1.97-5.75]; p<0.0001; C3, HR 2.73; 95%CI[1.67-4.46]; p<0.0001). In multivariable analysis, inducible ischemia predicted MACE in each cluster (p<0.001 for all).
Conclusions:
Cluster analysis identified 3 different phenotypes with distinct clinical and prognostic profiles. Within these clusters, stress CMR has an additional prognostic value to predict MACE..