Regadenoson pharmacologic stress for myocardial perfusion imaging: A three-way comparison between regadenoson administered at peak exercise, during walk recovery, or no-exercise

Regadenoson (Reg) is being administered with increasing frequency either at peak exercise (ExPeak-Reg) or during a slow-down/walking recovery state (ExRec-Reg) rather than at rest (Rest-Reg). The aim of this study was to compare the clinical response of ExPeak-Reg, ExRec-Reg, and Rest-Reg. We compared 531 patients divided equally between Rest-Reg, ExPeak-Reg, and ExRec-Reg matched for age, sex, and BMI. The average systolic blood pressure (SBP) rise following Reg was modest, but there was considerable heterogeneity and the ExPeak-Reg group had a higher percentage of patients who had a SBP rise of 40 mm Hg or a fall of 20 mm Hg than either the ExRec-Reg or the Rest-Reg groups (≥40 mm Hg rise 6.8%, 1.7%, and 1.7%, respectively) (P