Cardiovascular responses to repeated treadmill exercise testing soon after myocardial infarction

To determine the response to repeated treadmill exercise testing soon after uncomplicated myocardial infarction, 24 males (mean age 54 +/- 6 years) performed two symptom-limited tests several days apart 3, 7 and 11 weeks after the acute event. Significant within-week differences were noted for peak exercise tolerance (mets) and peak heart rate at 7 weeks (p less than 0.05). Significant within-week differences in these variables were not noted for other weeks or for systolic blood pressure or heart rate-systolic blood pressure product for any of the three test periods. No significant within-week differences were noted for any variable recorded at a submaximal work load of 4 mets. The frequency of exercise-induced ischemic ST-segment depression, angina pectoris and premature ventricular complexes did not change from visit to visit and was highly reproducible (p less than 0.01). All test variables measured at peak exercise increased significantly between 3 and 11 weeks after infarction. We conclude that cardiovascular responses to symptom-limited exercise testing are highly reproducible in the 3 months after uncomplicated myocardial infarction. Changes in the response to treadmill exercise tests performed several weeks apart reflect alterations in cardiovascular performance.