Prognostic value of peak exercise systolic blood pressure on long-term survival after myocardial infarction.

This study examined the association between peak exercise systolic blood pressure and other exercise test parameters and the long-term (19-year) survival of 625 patients with myocardial infarction who were original participants of the National Exercise and Heart Disease Project, a 3-year (1976 to 1979) multicenter randomized exercise clinical trial. Results show that low peak exercise systolic blood pressure (< or =140 mm Hg) was associated with increased mortality throughout the 19 years of follow-up, and men with this finding obtained no survival benefit from participating in an exercise program.