Long-term prognostic importance of exercise echocardiography after an episode of unstable angina.

The aim of this study was to determine whether exercise echocardiography gives long-term prognostic information in patients with unstable angina. Treadmill exercise echocardiography was performed before discharge in 33 consecutive patients (23 men, 10 women) with unstable angina. A wall motion score index (WMSI) was calculated from visual interpretation of 9 left-ventricular segments, registered with two-dimensional echocardiography. Within an 8-year follow-up period, there were 10 medical events (2 cardiac deaths and 8 myocardial infarctions). New or worsening wall motion abnormalities and a low WMSI immediately after the exercise test were associated with subsequent myocardial infarction or cardiac death during follow-up (p < 0.05). Only 1 of the patients with a WMSI above the median suffered a myocardial infarction, which was not fatal. In contrast, 9 (56%) of the 16 patients with a WMSI below the median suffered myocardial infarction or cardiac death during follow-up. These findings in patients with unstable angina suggest that exercise echocardiography is a sensitive method for detecting those with increased risk of myocardial infarction or cardiac death. These high-risk patients might benefit from a more aggressive therapeutic approach.