Why the study?
Does 24-hour ECG tape recording or maximal bicycle exercise testing better detect ventricular arrhythmias in patients with ischaemic heart disease and normal individuals?
Does 24-hour ECG tape recording or maximal bicycle exercise testing better detect ventricular arrhythmias in patients with ischaemic heart disease and normal individuals?
In patients with ischemic heart disease receiving beta-blockers or verapamil, 24-hour ECG recording is a more reliable indicator of ventricular arrhythmias than exercise ECG testing.
24-hour ECG recording may detect more ventricular arrhythmias than exercise testing in ischemic heart disease; hypothesis-generating and should not yet change practice.
The occurrence of ventricular arrhythmias (VA) during resting ECG, maximal bicycle exercise testing and 24-hour ECG tape recording (24-ETR) was studied in 24 patients and 24 matched normal persons. The patients were on treatment with beta-receptor blocking agents or verapamil for ischaemic heart disease (IHD), verified by coronary angiography. The matched persons showed no signs of heart disease. VA did not occur in any of those studied on a 60-second resting ECG. During exercise testing, one patient and six normal subjects had VA. During 24-ETR, VA were found in 16 patients and 11 normal persons. The maximum heart rate during exercise and the average heart rate during ETR did not differ significantly between individuals with and without VA in the groups of patients and normal subjects, respectively. It is concluded that in IHD patients receiving beta-blocking agents or verapamil, 24-ETR is a more reliable indicator of VA than exercise ECG testing. In normal individuals the two methods are of similar value.
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Møller et al. (1980) studied this question.
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