Treadmill exercise testing in ischaemic heart disease.

An analysis of 1,600 consecutive treadmill exercise tests is made, with emphasis on those with an ischaemic response. An ischaemic response is defined as a horizontal or downsloping depression of the ST segment of 1 mm or more. A hypertensive response is recorded where the blood pressure exceeds 200 mm Hg systolic or 100 mm Hg diastolic during exercise. There were 150 (9%) ischaemic responses and 279 (17%) hypertensive responses. Cardiac arrhythmias were detected in 173 (11%) subjects. Among the 150 subjects with ischaemic responses, 69 (46%) of them presented with anginal symptoms while 64 (43%) of them had no precordial pain. Twenty-seven (18%) of them had definite previous myocardial infarction. Risk factors observed included hypertension in 54 (36%) subjects, diabetes mellitus in 33 (22%) subjects, hypercholesterolaemia in 41 (37%) out of 112 subjects and 44 (29%) cigarette smokers.