Dobutamine echocardiography predicts outcome in an ischemic cardiomyopathy

Shown is the event-free survival in 87 patients with an ischemic cardiomyopathy who underwent dobutamine echocardiography. Among patients with evidence of hibernating myocardium (≥5 of 12 segments showing viability) mortality was significantly lower among those undergoing revascularization (3 versus 31 percent for medical therapy, p = 0.01). In patients without evidence of hibernation (<5 of 12 segments showing viability), there was no difference in mortality with revascularization or medical therapy (50 versus 44 percent).