[Indirect evaluation of effort angina. Automatic and traditional analysis of the ST segment, the amplitude of the R wave and thallium scintiscanning].

Forty-six patients presenting typical or non-typical angina pectoris were all submitted to analysis of effort angina, traditional or automatic, and to analysis of the amplitude of the R wave and to an effort myocardial scan using thallium 201 (taken as reference substance) during maximal muscle exercise. The following conclusions may be drawn from this study. 1) Autoanalysis of the ECG improves considerably the sensitivity without changing the specificity of the method (92 and 82 p. cent for 79 and 82 p. cent). Analysis of the variations in amplitude of the R wave gave no further information. It should be reserved for patients whose effort ECG was difficult to interpret: e.g. left or right bundle branch block, digitalis effect, very abnormal resting ECG, or average age female population.