IL COMPORTAMENTO DELL'ONDA R DURANTE SFORZO NEL SOGGETTO ANZIANO

The usefulness of R wave amplitude changes (R) during the stress test has been evaluated in 40 patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) aged > 65 years old (A) and in 14 normal subjects aged > 65 years old (B). We also studied 32 patients with CAD aged <60 years (C) and 36 normal subjects aged <65 years old (D). The authors compared the sensitivity and specificity of R in comparison with ST ischemic depression (ST) in the screening of CAD patients. All patients underwent coronary angiography. The authors considered significant for CAD R values ≥ 0 and ST depression > 1 mm. The true positive results were 77% with R criterion and 67% with ST standard in group A. The true negative responses were 57% with R and 78% with ST (P <0.05), in group B. The true positive results were 70% with R and 62% with ST in CAD patients of group C; the true negative responses were 58% with R and 78% with ST in normal subjects of group D (P <0.02). The percentage of R values ≥ O in patients of age > 65 did not differ to those observed in patients aged <60. R showed in comparison with ST better sensitivity, but the latter showed significantly better specificity. The age does not affect R wave amplitude changes.