Frequency of Hypertensive Response to Dobutamine Stress and Diminished
Diagnostic Value in Patients with End Stage Renal Disease Awaiting Renal
Transplant
Abstract
Background: Patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) have a
cardiovascular mortality about 15-30 times the general population and
this is reduced by about 70% with renal transplant. Dobutamine stress
echocardiography (DSE) is commonly performed for preoperative cardiac
evaluation before renal transplantation. Hypertensive response during
DSE occurs in about 1-5% of DSE studies. However, it seems to be more
frequent in patients with ESRD. But its frequency and clinical
implications are not known. Methods and Results: Of the 249-consecutive
adult ESRD patients undergoing DSE for pre-kidney transplant cardiac
risk assessment at our dedicated clinic, 53 (21%) had a hypertensive
response. Half of the patients with a hypertensive response, had stress
induced segmental wall motion abnormalities, of whom only half had
angiographically significant coronary artery disease by quantitative
coronary angiography. The hypertensive response was not a predictor of
survival. Stress induced segmental wall motion abnormalities predicted
poor survival in those with a normotensive response, but not in those
with a hypertensive response. The main and independent predictor of a
hypertensive response was higher baseline systolic blood pressure
(p< 0.0001). Conclusions: Hypertensive response to dobutamine
stress is common in ESRD patients and is not a predictor of survival.
Stress induced segmental wall motion abnormalities occur nearly thrice
as frequently with a hypertensive response, but this is a poor predictor
of angiographically significant coronary artery disease and does not
predict survival.