Coronary reserve can be assessed by the ratio of coronary blood flow after "maximum" vasodilation to control flow. The intravenous infusion of dipyridamole (0.56 mg X kg-1) is considered to elicit maximum coronary vasodilation. The present study was designed to compare coronary flow and resistance responses to intravenous dipyridamole and intracoronary injection of contrast medium (ioxaglate), this latter technique being frequently used in digital radiology to stimulate hyperemia. The comparison was performed in seven normal patients, nine patients with coronary artery disease, and 16 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy. Coronary flow reserve was calculated as the ratio of peak flow after dipyridamole or contrast medium to control flow, and coronary resistance reserve was calculated as the ratio of minimal to control coronary resistance after each stimulus. Although flow reserve after dipyridamole was approximately twice that obtained after contrast medium in the normal group (4.01 +/- 0.56 vs 2.02 +/- 0.24) there was a close and linear relationship between coronary flow and resistance reserve estimated by both techniques (r = 0.846, p less than 0.001 for flow reserve ratios, and r = 0.844 p less than 0.001 for resistance reserve ratios). However, contrast-induced hyperemia identified 13/25 (52%) of patients with coronary artery disease or dilated cardiomyopathy as having a reduced flow reserve, while dipyridamole revealed a restrained coronary flow reserve in 20/25 (80%) of these patients. Similar proportions were obtained when using coronary resistance reserve (56% for contrast vs 80% for dipyridamole). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)