Importance of the Exercise Test Follow-up Programme for Patients with Coronary Artery Disease who Underwent Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

The clinical course and prognosis of coronary heart disease (CHD) can be modified favourably with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in combination with medication. A follow-up programme was developed in the Latvian Centre of Cardiology, which included a stress electrocardiogram for patients after PCI. This is the first study in Latvia, and provides wide opportunities to evaluate functional status of patients, treatment effectiveness, possible risks and prognosis after PCI. Exercise tests are widely used for the evaluation and diagnostics of CHD. This method has been successfully implemented in diagnostics of restenosis in coronary arteries, a process which pathophysiologically differs from primary atherosclerosis. A total of 7,300 patients with CHD were followed-up in one year after PCI. An exercise test was conducted one, three, six and twelve months after PCI. Clinical and functional status of patients and risk of restenosis were evaluated and corrections in medications were made. Seventeen percent of patients had chest pain and 13% had significant ST-segment changes in electrocardiogram. Restenosis of coronary arteries in angiography were established in 6.4%. In half of those patients above restenosis was diagnosed early — three to six months after PCI. We established a patient subgroup (22%) with "silent" ischemia (positive exercise test without chest pain), out of whom 41% had restenosis. For left main (LM) disease patients 50% of all restenosis diagnoses also were diagnosed early (three to six month after PCI). Restenosis was associated with ST-segment deviation in the exercise electrocardiogram. A lower Robinson index (RI) was registered in the same group of patients. A focussed follow-up programme performing exercise test allows to determine timely possible risk of restenosis, to adapt medication doses, to reduce risk factors and to influence positively patients' compliance.