Accuracy of Treadmill Stress Test for Women’s Heart Disease

If you ever thought that every woman needs to do, to know if these coronary arteries (heart disease) are blocked, it takes a treadmill test so that doctors can see if the blood is thought to flow during exercise. again

Maybe one day that will be easy, but currently, it’s nowhere near. A study in the December 2012 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology highlights the conclusion that researchers are using treadmills to diagnose heart disease in women.

But the percentages are not exactly super high, as you will find. The report shows that many doctors do not have much faith in the accuracy of the exercise treadmill test (ETT) in detecting heart disease in women.

However, researchers from UC Davis have found that a treadmill exercise test can accurately predict heart disease in women over the age of 65. Although this sounds great, it is not too serious for women under the age of 65.

The paper notes that the predictive effectiveness of the treadmill stress test is enhanced by two particular EKG indicators.

There are more accurate ways to identify the presence of coronary artery disease, says Dr. Ezra of Amsterdam, about the study of the writer. senior author Dr. Amsterdam adds that these other routes are more expensive.

“Our study found [the treadmill] to be a very valuable test tool to identify coronary artery disease in women older than 65,” explains Dr. Amsterdam, “and can be used to help select those who require advanced diagnostic techniques.”

An exercise treadmill test includes an EKG reading. If the examination reveals signs of heart disease, a more invasive and definitive procedure, such as a catheter angiogram, is required. This very gold standard in the identification of trains, but it is very invasive and carries with it the risk of stroke and heart. to attack

My mother (who didn’t have a treadmill test) had a catheter angiogram and before the procedure she had to sign a waiver that had some scary information on it.

Dr. The Amsterdam study involved 111 women who reported breast pain and whose treadmill results were “positive.” These women underwent catheter angiograms.

Results

Half of the women had heart disease (determined by cath angiogram). When the results are broken down by age, the percentage goes up to 68 percent of women over the age of 65, and down to 36 percent for women 35 to 50. The percentage for the elderly may not seem impressive, but it is to the researchers. a note of success.

What about the EKG?

Two indicators, called ST-segment depression and ST-segment recovery, turned out to be important for the diagnostic value of ETT. For women over 65, a longer ST-segment recovery time yielded an 80 percent prediction of heart rate.

Amsterdam adds Dr. Amsterdam The American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology recommend that women (and men) with chest pain should undergo an ETT evaluation.

TRACTED CONTENT

CT angiogram vs. Treadmill stress test for the detection of heart disease

Source: sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121206153646.htm

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