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The Safety of Treadmill Exercise Stress Testing in Patients with Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms

Patricia J. Best, MD; A. Jamil Tajik, MD; Raymond J. Gibbons, MD; and Patricia A. Pellikka, MD

15 October 1998 | Volume 129 Issue 8 | Pages 628-631

Background: Exercise stress testing in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms may cause enlargement or rupture of aneurysms.

Objective: To evaluate the safety of treadmill exercise stress testing in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms.

Design: Retrospective descriptive study.

Setting: Tertiary care center.

Patients: 262 patients who had abdominal aortic aneurysms more than 4 cm in diameter and underwent treadmill exercise stress testing.

Measurements: Pain after stress testing, rupture of the aneurysm or death, aneurysm size, and exercise stress test results.

Results: The average aneurysm diameter was 5.5 ± 1.1 cm. One patient with a 6.1-cm aneurysm was found to have a contained rupture 12 hours after stress testing. The event rate for aneurysm rupture was 0.4% (95% CI, 0.0% to 2.1%). No deaths or other negative outcomes were documented.

Conclusion: Despite theoretical concerns, exercise stress testing of patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms seems to be safe and is associated with a low incidence of acute adverse events.

Author and Article Information

From the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
Acknowledgment: The authors thank Douglas Mahoney, MS, for his assistance with this study.
Requests for Reprints: Patricia A. Pellikka, MD, Division of Cardiovascular Diseases, Mayo Clinic, W16A, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905.
Current Author Addresses: Drs. Best, Gibbons, Tajik, and Pellikka: Division of Cardiovascular Diseases and Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905.

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