Korean Circ J.  2007 Jun;37(6):277-282. 10.4070/kcj.2007.37.6.277.

Blood Pressure Response during the Exercise Treadmill Test and the Risk of Future Hypertension and Cardiovascular Disease

• Lee SH
• Park WH
• Bae MW
• Lee SH
• Jang SY
• Yang DH
• Park HS
• Cho YK
• Chae SC
• Jun JE

• KMID: 1825862
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4070/kcj.2007.37.6.277

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Many studies had established the risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The Duke treadmill score has gained widespread acceptance for making the prognosis and diagnosis for patients with cardiac disease. Recently, the changes in blood pressure during and after exercise have also been studied to predict the prognosis of cardiac disease. We examined the relationship between the incidence of hypertension or cardiovascular disease and the changes of blood pressure during a routine exercise treadmill test.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS
256 men were screened, and they performed exercise treadmill tests from March to May, 2000. Those subjects with histories of hypertension and ischemic heart disease or who were newly diagnosed with ischemic heart disease were excluded. 109 subjects were selected for the final analysis. The follow up period was 78 months. Review of medical records and telephone interviews were used for follow up. We defined clinical events as new onset hypertension, ischemic heart disease, congestive heart failure, cerebrovascular accident, diabetes and atrial fibrillation. The peak systolic blood pressure of 182.5mmHg had the highest specificity and sensitivity on the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of the systolic blood pressure for prediction of clinical events. We defined a hypertensive response as a peak systolic blood pressure over 180 mmHg.
RESULTS
43 (39.4%) of the subjects had a hypertensive response on their exercise treadmill test. The mean exercise capacity was higher in the hypertensive response group. No significant differences were found between the hypertensive and non-hypertensive response groups, in terms of age, gender, body weight, height, body mass index and resting blood pressure. 18 (41.8%) of the hypertensive response subjects had clinical events, while only 11 (16.6%) of the non-hypertensive response subjects had clinical events. The hypertensive response group had more clinical events (p=0.006). 14 (32.5%) of the hypertensive response subjects had hypertension, while only 10 (15.1%) of the non-hypertensive response group had hypertension. The hypertensive response group had more hypertension (p=0.044). On the multivariate analysis, the hypertensive response on the exercise treadmill test was an independent risk factor for hypertension and clinical events (odds ratio=3.990, 95% confidence interval; 1.473-10.808, p=0.006). CONSLUSION: These results indicate that the exercise blood pressure response seems to be a risk factor for hypertension and clinical events. Careful medical care and close follow up may be needed for subjects with a hypertensive blood pressure response on the exercise treadmill test. Further study is needed to understand the significance of an exaggerated blood pressure response on the exercise treadmill test.

Keyword

Electrocardiography; Exercise test; Hypertension; Cardiovascular disease

MeSH Terms

Atrial Fibrillation
Blood Pressure*
Body Height
Body Weight
Cardiovascular Diseases*
Diagnosis
Electrocardiography
Exercise Test*
Follow-Up Studies
Heart Diseases
Heart Failure
Humans
Hypertension*
Incidence
Interviews as Topic
Male
Medical Records
Multivariate Analysis
Myocardial Ischemia
Prognosis
Risk Factors
ROC Curve
Sensitivity and Specificity
Stroke

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 ROC curve of systolic blood pressure for the prediction of clinical events. Peak systolic blood pressure of 182.5 mmHg had highest specificity and sensitivity in this ROC curve (sensitivity=0.448, specificity=0.887). We defined hypertensive response as peak systolic blood pressure over 180 mmHg. ROC: receiver operating characteristic, SBP: systolic blood pressure.

• 

  Fig. 2 Changes of BP and HR during the exercise treadmill test. A: changes of systolic blood pressure during the exercise treadmill test were higher in the hypertenisve response group compared to the non-hypertensive. B: changes of diastolic blood pressure during the exercise treadmill test were higher in the hypertenisve response group compared to the non-hypertensive. C: changes of heart rate during the exercise treadmill test were not different in the hypertensive response group compared to the non-hypertensive. SBP: systolic blood pressure, St: standing, Su: supine, S1-2: modified bruce stage 1-2, DBP: diastolic blood pressure, HR: heart rate, BP: blood pressure.

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