PURPOSE: To examine the relationship between physical fitness and transient myocardial ischemia (TMI) in the laboratory and during daily life, in a sample of coronary patients with a recent positive exercise test. METHODS: 47 patients with coronary disease (CAD) participated in laboratory mental and exercise stress testing and 48-hour outpatient Holter monitoring after being withdrawn from ant-ischemic medications. During laboratory testing, left ventricular performance was assessed by radionuclide ventriculography. Physical fitness was assessed by measurement of oxygen consumption during symptom-limited exercise treadmill testing. RESULTS: Higher physical fitness subjects were less likely to exhibit wall-motion abnormalities in response to mental stress (P < .05), and to exercise stress (P < .05) testing. They also had smaller decreases in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in response to mental stress than less fit subjects (P .056), and exhibited a mean increase in LVEF during exercise, compared to the less fit subjects who exhibited a decrease in LVEF (P < .02). Moreover, higher fit subjects exhibited fewer episodes of TMI (P < .04), for a shorter duration (P < .04), and less total ischemic burden (P < .04) during Holter monitoring. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that within a population of CAD patients, higher levels of physical fitness are associated with less TMI assessed in the laboratory and during routine activities of daily living.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Atrial fibrillation: conventional wisdom reappraised.

For years the conventional approach to treatment of atrial fibrillation has centered around use of digoxin for rate control and type IA agents for conversion to normal sinus rhythm and has avoided use of anticoagulation therapy for most patients. Current data suggest that new conventions are needed. beta-Blockers or calcium channel blockers should be considered equal to, if not better than, digoxin for rate control. Type IA agents are still the drugs of choice for conversion to and maintenance of normal sinus rhythm, but the newer agents propafenone and flecainide, and perhaps even amiodarone, may be more efficacious if preliminary data are truly indicative of their effect. The use of antiarrhythmic agents requires caution and careful attention to factors that may predispose patients to their inherent proarrhythmic effects. Finally, anticoagulation therapy is no longer reserved for a few patients but should be used in low doses in most patients (when not contraindicated) to lower risk of stroke. This new approach must be challenged as well to minimize the morbidity and mortality of this common clinical problem.

Anti-Arrhythmia Agents↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Re: 'evaluation of developmental health counseling: healthfulness of self-support behavior'.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Ethics, Nursing↗