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[Diagnostic exercise tests in adult men with no symptoms or with non-angina complaints]
G Coelho1, M Teixeira, J M Campos
1Faculdade de Medicina do Porto e Serviço de Cardiologia do Hospital de S. João.
Study Objective:
to investigate clinical and ECG stress test differences in middle aged males either asymptomatic or with non-anginal symptoms and no previous myocardial infarction.
Design:
retrospective stress data file analysis.
Setting:
Outpatients at the stress test laboratory.
Patients:
296 consecutive patients referred to diagnostic treadmill testing from January-1988 to June-1989.
Results:
no differences were found between symptomatic or asymptomatic individuals in the 17 variables analysed.
Conclusions:
despite the fact that patients with chest symptoms even if obviously non-anginal have an increased coronary disease prevalence when compared with age-matched asymptomatics, this difference seems to insufficient to be demonstrated by the ECG stress test results, making questionable the practical relevance of this symptomatic classification.