Reproducibility and relation to the degree of myocardial ischemia of postexercise electrocardiographic changes in stable angina pectoris

In recent times, increasing attention has been paid to the recovery phase after exercise in patients with stable angina pectoris. The relation between a prolonged postexercise ST-segment depression and the degree of impairment of exercise tolerance, extent and severity of coronary artery disease, presence of collateral circulation and degree of left ventricular dysfunction has been investigated.^1-5 Little is known about the reproducibility of postexercise ST-segment changes, and few studies have investigated the possible determinants of recovery duration in individual patients; in addition most studies have focused on the possible role of body position during and after exercise^6,7 or of exercise type.⁷ This study investigates the reproducibility of postexercise ST-segment changes and identifies which parameters are capable of influencing them in individual patients.