Intravenous dipyridamole is a relative selective coronary vasodilator which, when combined with thallium-201, provides a useful technique to assess myocardial perfusion. The intravenous dipyridamole is administered as an infusion at a rate of 0.14 mg/kg/min for 4 minutes. In the presence of significant coronary artery disease the increase of coronary blood flow is disproportionate between vessels with and without significant coronary lesions, providing the basis for detecting regional differences in flow using thallium-201. The test can be used alone or combined with low level exercise to increase test sensitivity. The test is safe when performed under medical supervision and when patient selection is done appropriately. Most of the side effects induced by dipyridamole infusion are well tolerated by patients and readily reversed with intravenous aminophylline and sublingual nitroglycerin. The average sensitivity and specificity of the dipyridamole thallium scintigraphy test from the major studies are 76% and 70%, respectively. The test is very useful in providing prognostic information in patients who are unable to exercise. A reversible thallium defect after dipyridamole infusion has been shown to be associated with significant mortality and morbidity in patients with documented or suspected coronary artery disease. The use of intravenous dipyridamole has been extended into other modalities of imaging, including 2-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography, to study functional changes in the left ventricular induced by the infusion of intravenous dipyridamole.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)