[Clinical outcome of silent myocardial ischemia detected by bicycle ergometry study]

Seventeen patients with positive maximal or submaximal bicycle-exercise test accompanied by painlessness and 14 patients with susceptible coronary heart disease with negative exercise test were studied and traced for 36 months. The patients underwent repeated bicycle-exercise test of the same stress and compared with those before 36 months. The results showed that 7/17 patients (41.2%) had an increase in the depressed level of ischemic type ST segment induced by exercise test. 3 of them developed effort angina pectoris: 1 suffered from myocardial infarction, 1 had recurrent atrial flutter and left heart failure, and 1 suddenly died from cardiac disease. The cardiac event rate was 3/17 (17.6%) in this group. While 14 patients with negative exercise test had no cardiac events. It seems to mean that silent myocardial ischemia detected by exercise test might have potential danger of cardiac events.