Functional evaluation 10 days and 3 weeks after acute myocardial infarction: comparative significance and prognostic value.

Early functional evaluation after non-complicated acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is widely recommended because of its prognostic value in the short term. In fact it seems to have a prognostic value within 15-20 days of the AMI, but in this period the patient is particularly controlled and is often still hospitalized. To evaluate the real significance of an early functional evaluation within 10 days of the AMI (mean 8.6 days +/- 1.2) as compared to an identical functional evaluation performed at 3 weeks after AMI (mean 20.16 days +/- 5.38) 25 patients with uncomplicated myocardial infarction were studied. Significant statistical differences were found between the first (ET1) and second (ET2) functional evaluations: they concern the maximal heart rate reached (P less than 0.001), the maximal pressure-rate product (P less than 0.05), the percentage increment of heart rate (P less than 0.01) and the total work performed (P less than 0.001). Agreement between ET1 and ET2 was found in 19 cases; 12 patients showed markers of ischaemia both at ET1 and ET2, while seven were free from ischaemia at both times. In six cases a disagreement between ET1 and ET2 was found: in particular, three cases had ischaemic ET1 and nonischaemic ET2; the reverse was seen in the other three. During follow-up (mean 215.4 days +/- 85.5), the total number of new events (reinfarctions, angina or surgery) among the 25 patients was eight; none occurred within the first 30 days after the AMI.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)