EXERCISE STRESS-TESTING AND RISK FACTOR ASSESSMENT AMONG OFFSPRING OFCARDIAC PATIENTS

As we learn more about the origins of coronary artery disease, researc h has begun to focus on its prevention. The purpose of this study was to determine if exercise stress testing of the offspring of our cardia c rehabilitation patients would be a useful adjunct to their general c ardiac risk factor assessment. In addition, we sought to quantitate th e number of cardiac risk factors they might have already accumulated. We determined the lifestyle and lipid profiles of 22 young, healthy su bjects. Subjects underwent maximal multistage exercise stress tests. E ighty-six percent of subjects had two or more major risk factors for C AD, and 73% had contributory risk factors. Seventy-three percent of su bjects also demonstrated hypercholesterolemia. Exercise testing did no t induce ischemic changes on electrocardiography of any subject. Our r esearch revealed that these offspring demonstrate an alarming number o f coronary artery disease risk factors, even though exercise stress te sts were negative.