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(Circulation. 1951;3:224.)
© 1951 American Heart Association, Inc.

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Effect of Ascending an Ordinary Flight of Stairs on the Work of the Heart

Observations on Normal Individuals and on Patients with Coronary Heart Disease

JAMES A. L. MATHERS M.D.¹; HAROLD I. GRIFFEATH M.D.¹; ROBERT L. LEVY M.D.¹; JOHN L. NICKERSON PH.D.¹

¹ From the Departments of Medicine and Physiology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, and the Presbyterian Hospital.

Observations of cardiac work were made in normal persons and in patients with coronary heart disease after ascending an ordinary staircase at various rates of speed. Cardiac output was calculated from records obtained with the low frequency, critically-damped ballistocardiograph. The results were compared, for statistical significance, with those noted following descent and after walking for an equivalent distance on the level. It appears that the compensated coronary patient can mount a flight of stairs leisurely without imposing a greatly increased burden of work on the heart. The optimal rate of ascent usually is the one chosen by the individual.