Display options
Share it on

Int J Cardiol. 2004 Sep;96(3):311-9. doi: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2003.08.019.

Contemporary management of silent ischemia: the role of ambulatory monitoring.

International journal of cardiology

Hemant Solomon, Robert F DeBusk

Affiliations

  1. Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Stanford University Medical Center, Suite106, 780 Welch Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304-5735, USA. [email protected]

PMID: 15301883 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2003.08.019

Abstract

Silent ischemia is highly prevalent among patients with ischemic heart disease and is associated with a poor prognosis in moderate/high risk outpatients who either exhibit exercise- or pharmacological-induced myocardial ischemia, or in those patients who demonstrate silent ischemia following an acute coronary syndrome. Pharmacotherapy, including beta-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, statins, calcium channel antagonists and antiplatelet agents, have all demonstrated a reduction in silent ischemia and an improvement in cardiac prognosis. The management of patients with ischemic heart disease is currently based on patients' report of anginal symptoms: documentation of silent ischemia, usually using ambulatory electrocardiography, is not incorporated into the routine management of coronary artery disease. Yet studies comparing ambulatory electrocardiography with exercise testing have shown these tests to be complementary. We review the evidence concerning the prognostic value of ambulatory electrocardiography for monitoring silent ischemia and the prognostic value of attenuating silent ischemia. Mitigation of silent ischemia improves cardiac prognosis and ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring before and after treatment of silent ischemia can play a valuable role in the management of coronary artery disease.

MeSH terms

Publication Types