[Echocardiography with physical exercise in patients with stable angina pectoris concurrent with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: safety, informative value, and performance conditions].

AIM: To define the safety, informative value, and performance conditions of exercise echocardiography (EchoCG) in patients with stable angina (SA) concurrent with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Forty patients aged 45 to 66 years (mean age 54.8 +/- 4.9 years) with Functional Class (FC) II-III SA concurrent with COPD and 40 patients aged 46 to 65 years (mean 56.6 +/- 4.9 years) with FC II-III SA without COPD were examined. All the patients underwent exercise EchoCG during the chosen therapy. RESULTS: Exercise EchoCG is safe in patients with SA with COPD. To enhance the informative value of this test and to achieve the ischemic threshold in patients of this category require the use of adequate bronchodilator therapy. In this case, the informative value of the technique is 75%. CONCLUSION: Exercise EchoCG in patients with SA concurrent with COPD may serve as a reliable tool in determining exercise endurance during antianginal, bronchodilator therapy and in assessing its adequacy.