Predischarge exercise electrocardiogram and stress echocardiography can predict long‐term clinically driven revascularization following acute myocardial infarction

BACKGROUND: Predischarge stress testing provides suboptimal prediction of spontaneous hard events following uncomplicated acute myocardial infarction (AMI). HYPOTHESIS: This study was aimed at assessing whether soft cardiac ischemic events requiring late revascularization could be predicted more accurately. METHODS: In all, 428 patients undergoing exercise electrocardiography (ECG) and stress echocardiography (SE, 345 dobutamine and 83 dypiridamole) within 15 days of uncomplicated AMI were followed up for 425 (range 20-2220) days. Soft ischemic events (effort angina>class II [Canadian Cardiovascular Society Classification] and unstable angina) driving late (>6 months) revascularization were regarded as endpoints. RESULTS: A total of 58 events (29 effort and 29 unstable angina with subsequent 47 coronary artery bypass grafts and 11 percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasties) occurred: 26 in patients with positive exercise ECG and 34 in patients with positive SE. Univariate predictors of revascularizations were positive exercise ECG (p = 0.0001), peak wall motion score index (WMSI) (p = 0.0009), low workload (p = 0.0018), rest WMSI (p = 0.02) and positive SE (p = 0.02). Cox multivariate analysis selected peak WMSI, positive exercise ECG, and low workload positive exercise ECG as independent predictors of late revascularizations. CONCLUSIONS: Predischarge stress testing identifies the long-term occurrence of soft ischemic events driving late revascularization after uncomplicated AMI.