ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical factors related to false positive results of electrocardiogram treadmill exercise test (TET) for the detection of coronary heart disease (CHD). METHODS: 258 patients with chest pain undergoing TET and coronary angiography (CAG) were on rolled. The case history and various clinical parameters were collected. (1) The results of TET and CAG were compared to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of TET; (2) Clinical informations of the true positive group and the false positive group were compared and a statistic analysis was carried out. RESULTS: The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of TET for diagnosing CHD was 77.3%, 65.9%, and 69.8% respectively. The number of female in the false positive group was larger than that in the true positive group; The number of patients with typical chest pain, hyperlipidemic history, smoking history and family history of CHD was smaller than that in the true positive group. In the false positive group, the change of ST segment was mainly in II, III, aVF. The number of patients with change of more than 0.2 mV in ST and with angina induced during exertion was lower in the false positive group than in the true positive group. The difference was significant. CONCLUSION: Factors including sex, typical chest pain, risk factors of CHD, the location and extent of ECG changes and angina induced by exertion are closely related to false positive results of TET.
