Notes
Slide Show
Outline
1
How to Use Heart Rate Changes to Improve Exercise Test Results
  • V. Froelicher, MD
  • Professor of Medicine
  • Stanford University
  • VA Palo Alto HCS
2
What are the Questions being asked regarding Coronary Disease and Exercise Testing
  • Does this patient have or not have Coronary Disease?
  • Is this patient going to experience a Cardiac Event?
  • Is an invasive intervention appropriate?
3
Why do we need more than ST depression?
  • Classic criteria of one mm ST depression has low sensitivity and hi specificity
  • Other more expensive modalities appear to have better discriminatory characteristics
  • Exercise ST depression has not been prognostic in all studies
4
Goal is convince you:
  • Functional capacity is the strongest predictor of prognosis and Heart rate recovery adds to it.
  • Maximal Heart rate is an important part of diagnostic scores
  •  We should stop worshipping ST segments and cardiac cath for prognostic and diagnostic assessments.
5
 
6
Statistical Prediction Rules
  • Based on mathematical models or equations that can be simplified as scores
  • They increase accuracy by enhancing the odds that any decision will be correct (a reliable second opinion)
7
Clinical Scores
  • Predicting Outcomes
    • Follow up required (time, complete)
    • Endpoint Limitations (Death, CABG)
    • No Natural History
  • Predicting Angiographic Findings
    • Instant Epidemiology
    • Limitations of Angiography
    • Sub-ischemic Lesions cause events


8
Making any of these Five Mistakes Evaluating Diagnostic Tests can invalidate Scores & Stats
  • Limiting the population Challenge by choosing extremes
  • Failure to reduce Work up bias
  • Use of Heart rate targets
  • Inclusion of MI patients
  •  Use of Surrogates
9
Making any of these Four Mistakes Evaluating Prognostic Tests can invalidate Scores & Stats
  •  Limited Challenge and work up bias
  • Incomplete Follow up
  • Failure to Censor
  • Using Misleading Endpoints
10
Population Selection Critical!!
  •   Consecutive patients presenting with the problem for evaluation
    • Limit work up bias
    • Avoid limited challenge
11
 
12
The HR Recovery Studies Hi-light problems with Prediction of Prognosis
  • Failure to remove patients with interventions results in prediction of outcome after application of standard therapies
  • Failure to use infarct-free survival or cardiovascular death as outcome negates development of strategies or scores for treatment of CAD
  • Does not allow for prediction of who should receive therapies or interventions
13
 
14
The ST/HR index studies highlight the problem of limited challenge
  • Comparison of the sickest to the most well exaggerates the discriminatory value
  • The well have high heart rates , the sick have low maximal HRs
15
 
16
 
17
Comparison of Tests
18
Therefore scores, ST/HR index and Heart rate recovery should be part of every standard ECG Exercise test