In this study, our aim was to assess the coronary flow reserve (CFR) by performing the
adenosine stress (99m)Tc-MIBI single-photon computed tomographic (SPECT) myocardial perfusion imaging in patients with
hypertension. 47 hypertensive patients with normal coronary angiography were divided into 2 groups, defined by the presence (LVH, n = 22) and absence (non-LVH, n = 25) of
left ventricular hypertrophy with 17 normal cases as controls. All patients were administered the
adenosine stress-rest (99m)Tc-MIBI scintigraphy. 0.14 mg/kg/min
adenosine was administered by continuous infusion for 6 min. We found that
adenosine-induced
myocardial ischemia was present in 26 cases (55.3 %) with 87 segments (20.6 %) showing abnormal distribution in the hypertensive group versus a single case (5.9 %) (χ (2) = 31.12, P < 0.001) and segment (0.7 %) (χ (2) = 32.90, P < 0.001) in the control group by SPECT perfusion. In the LVH group, 17 cases (77.3 %) and 67 segments (33.8 %) of
myocardial ischemia were present. In the non-LVH group, there were 9 cases (36.0 %) (χ (2) = 8.06, P < 0.001), 20 segments (8.9 %) (χ (2) = 40.13, P < 0.001). There was a significant decrease in coronary reserve in the hypertensive groups following
adenosine infusion with a fourfold decrease in cases and a sixfold decrease in segments (P < 0.001). Our study suggests that assessing CFR by the (99m)Tc-MIBI
adenosine stress by SPECT imaging is a relatively easy, safe, and non-invasive test in patients with
hypertension. We noted a decrease in CFR in patients with
hypertension. This decrease was especially remarkable for hypertensive patients with LVH. This study shows that administering the (99m)Tc-MIBI
adenosine stress by SPECT imaging is a safe, simple, and non-invasive test for detecting CFR in patients with
hypertension.