False suspicion of coronary heart disease: a 7 year follow-up study of 36 apparently healthy middle-aged men.
Latent coronary heart disease was suspected in 115 of 2014 apparently healthy middle-aged men after a baseline cardiovascular survey. One hundred five of these men underwent angiography and 36 were found to have normal coronary arteries (group 1). A 7 year follow-up survey revealed that: (1) three had died of sudden cardiac death, (2) four had received a diagnosis of cardiomyopathy, (3) one had developed aortic dilatation/aortic regurgitation since the baseline survey, (4) they all had a significantly more rapid decline in their physical performance and maximal heart rate levels from the time of the baseline survey to follow-up than did randomly selected normal controls (group 2), and (5) thallium study results were normal in both groups (27 and 26 patients), but technetium ventriculography revealed a subnormal increase in ejection fraction during exercise (less than 5% units) in 14 of 27 group 1 subjects and in 4 of 26 group 2 subjects. Thus, incipient heart disease may be present in subjects in whom coronary angiographic examination has removed a previous suspicion of coronary heart disease.
D000328:Adult; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000175:diagnosis; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005080:Exercise Test; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011859:Radiography; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D013318:Stroke Volume