Abstract 18991: Mechanism of False Positive Exercise Electrocardiographic Testing: An Investigation by Advanced Echocardiography

Introduction: Treadmill exercise electrocardiography (TEE) is the classical method for initial assessment of coronary artery disease (CAD). However, a significant number of patients reveal false positive with this method. The mechanism of false positive TEE remains unclear. Global longitudinal strain (GLS) by speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) was reported to detect early left ventricular (LV) dysfunction. Methods: The present study included 755 patients with suspected CAD who underwent TEE. Patients with depressed LVEF (EF<50%), atrial fibrillation, or valvular heart disease were excluded. Of the study patients, 30 patients (3.9%) were false positive for TEE, which was identified by coronary artery angiography (n=19, 63%) or 64-slice multidetector coronary computed tomography (n=11, 37%). The present study also included aged-matched 20 healthy controls. Conventional echocardiographic parameters were obtained within 2 days after TEE. Speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) was also performed for eval...