title: Usefulness of low-level exercise testing early after acute myocardial infarction in patients taking beta-blocking agents.
abstract: The value of low-level exercise testing early after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in 207 patients taking beta-blocking drugs was evaluated in a multicenter study of prognosis after AMI. After stratifying patients according to the absence of significant rales upon admission or pulmonary congestion on the admitting chest x-ray, the results of the exercise test (ability to complete the 9-minute protocol) permitted a large cohort (108 patients, 52% of exercising patients) with no deaths from cardiac causes in the year after AMI to be identified. The results suggest that even in patients taking beta-blocking agents, low-level exercise testing together with clinical stratification has value in identifying a large group of patients with a good prognosis after AMI.
mesh_terms: D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000368:Aged; D000787:Angina Pectoris / Q000209:etiology; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality; D011379:Prognosis; D012306:Risk
chemical_list: D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists