Background: Ischemic heart disease is growing by epidemic proportions in Asia. Among patients in Western populations with similar myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) ischemia severity, ethnicity is independently associated with mortality. We aimed to determine the differential prognostic value of MPI abnormality severity among three major Asian ethnic groups.
Methods: From 16,921 consecutive patients, we used summed stress score to define increasing abnormal scan severity groups (minimal, mild, moderate, and severe) among Chinese, Indian, and Malay patients. We determined mortality from the national death registry. Using multivariable Cox regression models, we examined the association between ethnicity and mortality.
Results: Chinese patients were older than Indians or Malays. Annual all-cause death rates increased with increasing abnormal scan severity in all three ethnicities. After adjustment, ethnicity was not associated with mortality. With Chinese as the reference group, adjusted hazard ratio and 95% CI for Malays and Indians were 1.29 (0.95-1.77) and 1.06 (0.74-1.50) in the minimally abnormal scan group, and 1.20 (0.75-1.91) and 0.82 (0.47-1.45) in the severely abnormal scan group, respectively.
Conclusions: Mortality risk is related to the severity of scan abnormality and is independent of ethnicity in Asians. Our findings emphasize the continued utility of MPI in guiding risk stratification in Asia.