Early Exercise Test in the Assessment of Long‐Term Prognosis after Acute Myocardial Infarction

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Abstract
Subjective maximal exercise test was performed in 317 patients in the 3rd wk after an acute myocardial infarction (AMI); 78% of the total AMI population could be tested. The long-term survival was assessed on the basis of data from the exercise test. The average follow-up time was 5.7 yr. Mortality increased significantly among patients with major ventricular arrhythmias and among those with a small increase in the pressure rate product (dPRP) from rest to maximal exercise. Patients with arrhythmias and those with a low dPRP constituted a high-risk group of 165 patients (52%). The probability of 5 yr survival was 0.551 in this group vs. 0.783 in the others (P < 0.001). The death rate was higher in the high-risk group than in the other patients throughout the observation period.