Abstract

Adenosine myocardial perfusion imaging is a commonly used modality for the evaluation of patients with known or suspected coronary artery disease (CAD). In this review we discuss the pharmacology of adenosine and its effects on myocardial blood flow and the generation of perfusion defects during myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI), the indications and contraindications of MPI, stress protocols, side effects, hemodynamic and electrocardiographic changes, comparison to other stress MPI modalities, the role of adenosine MPI in special patient populations and the recent advances in the field with the emergence of the new selective adenosine agonists.

Keywords: Adenosine, SPECT, myocardial perfusion imaging