Association between silent myocardial ischemia and prognosis: insensitivity of angina pectoris as a marker of coronary artery disease activity.
The clinical syndrome of angina pectoris was accurately described over 200 years ago by Sir William Heberden. However, in recent years, we have learned that many episodes of myocardial ischemia occur that are not accompanied by symptoms of angina pectoris. These silent ischemic episodes may be detected either during exercise testing, using electrocardiographic criteria that can be combined with scintigraphic studies evaluating myocardial blood flow (thallium perfusion studies) or left ventricular function (gated blood pool scans). In addition, continuous electrocardiographic (Holter) monitoring can be used for the detection of transient ST-segment changes; these changes on Holter monitoring have been correlated with abnormalities of myocardial perfusion and function, indicating that they represent true ischemic events. Studies have shown that patients with coronary artery disease who have evidence of ongoing ischemia, whether symptomatic or silent, have an increased risk for experiencing subsequent cardiac events than patients without evidence of ischemia. Many studies have demonstrated that ischemia during an exercise study after myocardial infarction identifies patients at high risk for recurrent cardiac events, whether or not the ischemia is associated with angina pectoris. Holter monitoring has allowed for the detection of ischemic events out of hospital in ambulatory patients. Studies in stable angina patients have shown that there are many asymptomatic episodes in this setting, which are often occurring at low heart rates during activities of everyday life, without an apparent significant increase in myocardial oxygen demands, and these episodes may even be precipitated by mental stress.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Gottlieb
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Department of Medicine, Francis Scott Key Medical Center, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland 21224.
D000787:Angina Pectoris / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D011379:Prognosis