Predischarge exercise electrocardiogram and stress echocardiography can predict long-term clinically driven revascularization following acute myocardial infarction.

BACKGROUND

Predischarge stress testing provides suboptimal prediction of spontaneous hard events following uncomplicated acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

HYPOTHESIS

This study was aimed at assessing whether soft cardiac ischemic events requiring late revascularization could be predicted more accurately.

METHODS

In all, 428 patients undergoing exercise electrocardiography (ECG) and stress echocardiography (SE, 345 dobutamine and 83 dypiridamole) within 15 days of uncomplicated AMI were followed up for 425 (range 20-2220) days. Soft ischemic events (effort angina>class II [Canadian Cardiovascular Society Classification] and unstable angina) driving late (>6 months) revascularization were regarded as endpoints.

RESULTS

A total of 58 events (29 effort and 29 unstable angina with subsequent 47 coronary artery bypass grafts and 11 percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasties) occurred: 26 in patients with positive exercise ECG and 34 in patients with positive SE. Univariate predictors of revascularizations were positive exercise ECG (p = 0.0001), peak wall motion score index (WMSI) (p = 0.0009), low workload (p = 0.0018), rest WMSI (p = 0.02) and positive SE (p = 0.02). Cox multivariate analysis selected peak WMSI, positive exercise ECG, and low workload positive exercise ECG as independent predictors of late revascularizations.

CONCLUSIONS

Predischarge stress testing identifies the long-term occurrence of soft ischemic events driving late revascularization after uncomplicated AMI.