Detection of multivessel coronary artery disease by early exercise testing after first myocardial infarction.

The ability of a symptom limited treadmill exercise test (TMT) to predict the presence of multivessel coronary artery disease (MVD) three weeks after a first myocardial infarction was assessed in 76 male patients aged 25-65 (mean 40.9 +/- 10.1) years. There were 6 patients with normal coronaries, 36 with single vessel disease (SVD), 20 with double vessel disease (DVD), and 14 with three vessel disease (TVD). TMT was positive in 20/34 (58.8%) patients with MVD, and 4/42 (9%) patients with SVD or normal coronaries. The predictive accuracy of a positive TMT in detecting MVD was 83.3%, and the predictive accuracy of a negative TMT in excluding MVD was 73.1%. It is concluded that TMT is useful test for predicting the presence or absence of MVD in survivors of a first transmural myocardial infarction.