[Value of the exercise test after aortocoronary bypass]

The 100 patients who underwent an exercise test and a follow-up coronary arteriogram at a mean interval of 10.1 months after an aorto-coronary bypass had suffered preoperatively from incapacitating angina 50%), a threatened infarction syndrome (35%), or Prinzmetal's angina (15%). The majority had a single bypass graft (72%), but 28% had two or three grafts. The exercise test was positive 39 times, negative 51 times, and indeterminate in 10. Correlation with the clinical picture shows that 27% of the patients in functional category I had a positive exercise test. Correlation with coronary arteriography shows that a positive test is reliable evidence for a defect or occlusion of the graft. On the other hand, a negative exercise test is a less reliable indicator of a good result. No instances of positive exercise tests were found when there was complete alleviation of the coronary condition.