Usefulness of the ergometric testing in patients with the long Q-T syndrome

Abstract

Fifty patients with an exercise test positive for coronary artery disease (CAD) were analyzed for the presence of a long Q-T interval corrected for heart rate (Q-Tc). While there were only 3 patients with a long Q-Tc (6%) in the resting ECG, with the exercise test their number increased to 12 (24% of the total). If the test could not be done, such subjects were considered to have CAD and normal Q-T intervals. This is of great importance because patients with normal Q-T intervals are treated with group I antiarrhythmic drugs, whereas these drugs are contraindicated in patients with long Q-T intervals.