The effect of intravenous atropine on treadmill stress test results in patients with poor exercise capacity or chronotropic incompetence

Abstract

Introduction: Exercise stress test (EST) is one of the main diagnostic and prognostic tests for ischemic heart disease. However its usefulness depends on achieving target heart rate. Materials and Methods: The study comprised of 210 patients undergoing EST. Those who failed to achieve their THR, atropine was administered in doses of 0.5 mg per minute until the test conclusion. Results: Forty-one of the 210 patients (19.5%) required atropine (mean dose: 1.1 mg) during the study. Among patients who received atropine, conclusive test was achieved in 38 cases (92.7%). Conclusion: The use of atropine as an adjunct to standard EST can help decrease the number of inconclusive tests. Larger studies are necessary to define the role of atropine in EST and also to evaluate the accuracy of conclusive EST after atropine administration.