Abstract:Objective To retrospectively study the application and significance of preoperative screening of coronary heart disease (CHD) by treadmill exercise test (TET) for patients with thoracic non-heart diseases. Methods A total of 336 cases whose TET was positive or suspected positive from January 2009 to October 2013 in the Department of Thoracic Surgery in the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University were selected. All of them underwent coronary angiography (CAG) as the gold standard for diagnosis of CHD. Positive predictive value for CHD was compared between the positive-TET group and the suspicious-positive-TET group. Effects of age, gender, hypertension and diabetes on positive predictive value of CHD were examined. Results There were 252 males (75%) and 84 females (25%). The average age was (59.77 ± 7.92) years. The positive predictive value of CHD in the positive-TET group was higher than that in the suspicious-positive-TET group (36.36% vs 23.04%, P = 0.008). The positive predictive value in the older group (aged ≥ 60 years) was higher than that in the middle-aged group (age < 60 years) (40.35% vs 15.76%, P = 0.000). The positive predictive value in the male group was higher than that in the female group (31.35% vs 19.05%, P = 0.030). The positive predictive value in the hypertension group was higher than that in the non-hypertension group (57.69% vs 22.89%, P = 0.000). The positive predictive value of the diabetic group was higher than that in the non-diabetic group (62.07% vs 25.08%, P = 0.000). The differences were statistically significant. Conclusions TET can be a routine preoperative screening method for CHD to assess the risk of surgery and guide peri-operative treatment. Compared with suspicious positive TET, positive TET has higher positive predictive value. TET has a higher positive predictive value for CHD in old-aged patients, the male and the cases with hypertension or diabetes than in middle-aged patients, the female and the cases without hypertension or diabetes.