Evaluation of the Benefit of Exercise Testing for the Diagnosis of Obstruction in the Coronary Arteries of the Heart

Overview

The purpose of this study is to determine whether exercise testing can detect an obstruction in a coronary artery, and, thereby, can avoid performing a coronary imaging in some cases. Patients with a suspicion of coronary artery disease perform an exercise test on an exercise bike with increasing load. EKG, blood pressure, and other parameters are monitored. Patients benefit also of either a cardiac CT scan or a coronary angiography to establish whether they really have coronary obstruction.

Double product DP (product of systolic blood pressure and heart rate) is directly related to the myocardial oxygen consumption (MVO2). Since O2 extraction by the myocyte in maximal at rest, only an increase in coronary blood flow can increase MVO2 during exercise. Therefore, if a coronary stenosis limits the maximal coronary flow, it will limit MVO2 and DP at exercise. Patients with both an exercise test and a coronary artery imaging (cardiac CT or coronary angiography) within 3 months, are included. DP increase (DP max/DP at rest) is measured during a maximal, symptom-limited exercise on a cycloergometer. DP at rest is measured either before the exercise test, at the end of the recovery period or during a visit to the cardiologist in the 2 months of the test, whichever is the smallest. The predictive power to detect a significant coronary artery stenosis is assessed by computing a Receiving Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve, its area under the curve, sensitivity, specificity, and decision thresholds. Number expected: 100-120 Time period of data collection: 1/1/2019 to 3/1/2022

Conditions

Interventions