Prognostic Value of Exercise Testing Soon after Myocardial Infarction

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Abstract
The prognostic value of a limited treadmill exercise test performed one day before hospital discharge after acute myocardial infarction was studied in 210 consecutive patients who had no overt heart failure and had been free of chest pain for at least four days. No complications occurred. During a one-year follow-up period 28 of 43 patients (65 per cent) who had chest pain during the test reported angina, as compared with 60 of 167 (36 per cent) who had no chest pain during the test (P<0.001). The one-year mortality rates were 2.1 per cent (three of 146) in patients without changes in the S — T segment during exercise and 27 per cent (17 of 64) in those with depression of the S — T segment (P<0.001). Sudden death occurred in one of 146 (0.7 per cent) patients who showed no change in the S — T segment and in 10 of 64 (16 per cent) with depression of the segment (P<0.001).