Usefulness of Holter monitoring to improve the sensitivity of exercise testing in determining the degree of myocardial revascularization after coronary artery bypass grafting for stable angina pectoris.

To assess whether Holter monitoring improves the sensitivity of exercise testing in identifying incomplete myocardial revascularization, both tests were performed in 45 patients from 3 to 5 months after elective coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) for stable angina pectoris. Coronary angiography revealed incomplete revascularization in 26 patients. Six of these 26 had 52 episodes of ST-segment depression during Holter monitoring and myocardial ischemia during exercise testing. Their exercise capacity was significantly lower than that of 10 other patients in whom the results of exercise testing only were positive (heart rate at 0.1 mV ST-segment depression 112 +/- 9 vs 123 +/- 15 beats/min, p less than 0.001). In the other 10 patients with incomplete myocardial revascularization the results of both investigations were negative. The graft patency rate was lower in patients with a positive response to exercise testing than in those with a negative response (52% vs 71%, p less than 0.005). Myocardial revascularization was angiographically complete in 19 patients. In 18 of these 19 patients the findings of both investigations were negative; in 1 patient Holter monitoring revealed episodes of ST-segment elevation suggestive of variant angina. Thus, after CABG for stable angina pectoris the results of Holter monitoring do not improve the sensitivity of exercise testing in identifying patients with angiographically incomplete myocardial revascularization because findings are positive only in patients with low exercise capacity. Both tests fail to show evidence of myocardial ischemia in most patients with angiographically complete myocardial revascularization.