[Results of 1000 electrocardiographic exercise tests. Their correlation with previous ischemic cardiopathy and...

Exercise electrocardiograms were done on one thousand patients referred to the laboratory of exercise tests for: suggestive symptoms of acute heart failure, old miocardial infarction abnormal resting ECG, or evaluation of coronary reserve. The average value of cardiac rate reached for the group, was close to 80%. The maximum exercise loads managed by the men were superior to those of the women, and in general those managed in the negative test were superior in relation to the positive tests. Of the one thousand cases, 20.2% had positive exercise ECG's. There was no difference inthe percentages of positivity between the two sexes, 20.75% and 19.11% for men and women respecitvely. The percentages of positivity are greater in those subjects sent to the laboratory for suspicion of angina pectoris, old MI, or abnormal resting ECG, than in those referred for detection of ischemic heart disease. The groups of patients with diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension, old MI, and abnormal resting ECG had the highest incidence of positive tests: 41%, 37.5%, 30.6%, and 28.2% respectively. The most frequent localization of the ST segment alterations was the anterior portion, with percentages of 85.1% similar to those mentioned in the literature. The frequency of arrithmias, of 12.4% in this group, is a little less than that described in similar groups, but it corroborates the predominance of non-lethal ventricular arrithmias. The mortality in the tests performed was null.