- Academic Editor
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†These authors contributed equally.
Background: To identify factors that increase the specificity of the
treadmill exercise test (TMET), and develop a novel scoring system which accounts
for functional capacity to aid in determining the need for further testing.
Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the electronic health records of
600 patients who had positive TMET results and follow-up stress echocardiography
from 1-January-2004, through 31-December-2016. Correlations between clinical and
aerobic variables and multivessel disease (MVD) were determined. Duke Treadmill
Score (DTS) was calculated and compared with a novel scoring system titled
the Intermediate-High-Workload Treadmill Score (IHWTS) that used variables
associated with MVD. Results: In total, 124 of 600 patients (21%) had
coronary catheterization, and 51 of these patients (41%) had MVD. Mean (SD) DTS
was –2.10 (6.3) among patients with MVD vs –0.16 (5) among patients without MVD
(p = 0.06). Mean (SD) functional aerobic capacity (FAC) was 76% (20%)
among patients with MVD vs 90% (21%) among patients without MVD (p