Coronary Stress Test as a Predictor of Quality of Life in Chronic Heart Failure Patients

Abstract Introduction. Exercise tolerance is one of the life quality parmeters in chronic heart failure patients. The aim of our study was to assess the quality of life of patients with chronic heart failure by estimating their exercise tolerance. Methods. We examined 113 patients with stable chronic heart failure in the period of 18 months. They were divided in two groups, a control group (on conventional therapy of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and diuretics) and a therapy group (conventional therapy plus beta-blockers). The therapy group was divided into 3 subgroups according to the beta-blocker taken (a Metoprolol Bisoprolol and Carvedilol subgroup). Exercise tolerance was detected by coronary trade-mill stress testing every 6 months (only in patients of NYHA FC II and III), symptoms limited or modified after 6-minutes Bruce test. Results. Our results showed that there was a statistically significant difference between the control group and all the therapy subgroups in NYHA FC, NYHA score and exercise tolerance at the end of the study, but there was no difference among the subgroups. Conclusion. Beta-blockers improve the exercise tolerance as a variable defining quality of life.