Exercise Stress Testing: What Is Its Benefit in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease?

Stress-induced ischemia might neither be a harbinger of worse prognosis nor predict the best treatment approach.

Despite the many years since the introduction of stress testing, controversy continues about its prognostic importance and value in decisions about revascularization in patients with stable disease. In the COURAGE trial, the presence of ischemia did not modify treatment effectiveness (NEJM JW Cardiol May 2007 and N Engl J Med 2007; 356:1503). In this post hoc analysis, investigators made use of data from MASS II (ISRCTN66068876), a randomized clinical trial comparing the long-term effects of optimal medical therapy (OMT), percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), or coronary artery bypass grafting in patients with stable multivessel coronary artery disease and preserved systolic ventricular function (NEJM JW Cardiol May 9 2007; [e-pub] and …

Reviewing Author

Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardUnited Healthcare; Element Science; Eyedentifeye, F-Prime

EquityHugo Health; Refactor Health; Element Science

Grant/Research SupportPfizer; Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; Janssen Research and Development, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Engineering; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; National Cancer Institute; American Heart Association

Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardUnited Healthcare; Element Science; Eyedentifeye, F-Prime

EquityHugo Health; Refactor Health; Element Science

Exercise Stress Testing: What Is Its Benefit in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease?

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Reviewing Author