[Cardiac events after myocardial infarction treated with streptokinase. The prognostic value of symptom-limited ECG on day 7].

One hundred and forty-seven consecutive patients admitted with suspected acute myocardial infarction (AMI) were treated with streptokinase. On day 7 after AMI 107 patients performed a symptom-limited exercise test (bicycle ergometer). Thirty-four of the tested patients developed at least one cardiac event (reinfarction, cardiac death, decided myocardial revascularization) during follow-up (30 months). Exercise induced ST-depression was more frequent among patients with cardiac events than among those without cardiac events (chi 2-test, p < 0.05). With multiple logistic regression analysis (BMPD) the following variables were found to have independent prognostic value for the development of new cardiac events: low maximal heart-rate during the exercise test, long duration of acute symptoms before streptokinase treatment and male sex. Exercise-induced ST-depression had no prognostic value in the BMPD-analysis. Exercise testing can be carried out with safety and supplies prognostic information concerning future cardiac events in patients with streptokinase-treated AMI.