Exercise electrocardiogram patterns in normal women.

Abstract

Exercise tests were obtained in 357 women aged 20 to 83 years without cardiac disease. The bicycle exercise was submaximal to 86 per cent ofpredicted maximal heart rate, or maximal to the point of voluntary fatigue. Up to 25 per cent of women 20 to 39 years, 50 per cent of women 40 to 59 years, and 66 per cent of women over 6o years, had electrocardiographic abnormalities consistent with ischaemia depending on the criteria used. Until different criteria are established, exercise electrocardiography is of limited value in women.