Scintigraphic assessment of myocardial hypoxia in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in a clinical case study

Exercise-guided single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) of the myocardium is a promising modern technique for assessing myocardial perfusion. This method allows for the evaluation of regional and global contractility, the identification of perfusion defects, the determination of cardiomyocyte viability in the ischemic zone, and the characterization of metabolic and innervational processes in the myocardium. The objective of this article is to evaluate, based on a clinical case, the role of exercise-guided SPECT for assessing abnormalities in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The obtained data show that the use of single-photon myocardial perfusion scintigraphy with stress in patients with COPD is clinically justified: it provides reliable stratification of the risk of coronary heart disease, allows verification of right ventricular dysfunction and can serve as a guide for the choice of revascularization tactics, which is especially important in patients with significant pulmonary pathology.