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Effect of long-term exercise training on regional myocardial perfusion changes in patients with coronary artery
1Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyoto University, Graduate School of Medicine, Japan.
Insights
Long-term cardiac rehabilitation significantly improves myocardial perfusion and exercise tolerance in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients. Supervised exercise training enhanced cardiac function and reduced perfusion defects, suggesting it
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Exercise Physiology
Background:
- Coronary artery disease (CAD) management often includes cardiac rehabilitation.
- Cardiac rehabilitation improves exercise tolerance and cardiac function in CAD patients.
- The long-term impact of cardiac rehabilitation on myocardial perfusion remains debated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the long-term (> or = 1 year) effect of exercise training on myocardial perfusion in stable CAD patients.
- To evaluate changes in exercise tolerance and cardiac function following long-term cardiac rehabilitation.
Main Methods:
- A study involving 58 stable CAD patients divided into a training group (n=35) and a control group (n=23).
- Thallium-201 (201Tl) exercise scintigraphy was used at baseline and follow-up (>= 1 year) to assess myocardial perfusion.
- Supervised exercise training was conducted twice weekly for the training group.
Main Results:
- Significant improvement in myocardial perfusion was observed in 57.1% of the trained group versus 13.0% of the control group (p<0.001).
- The number of perfusion defect segments decreased significantly in the trained group (231 to 153) but not in the control group (158 to 156).
- Exercise tolerance and peak double products increased significantly in the trained group, indicating enhanced physical capacity.
Conclusions:
- Long-term supervised exercise training significantly improves myocardial perfusion in CAD patients.
- Cardiac rehabilitation enhances exercise tolerance and cardiac function in patients with coronary artery disease.
- Exercise training is an effective and advisable treatment strategy for managing coronary artery disease.
Abstract:
The cardiac rehabilitation of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) promotes exercise tolerance, improves left ventricular function, and decreases the heart rate and systolic blood pressure at the same load intensity. Several studies have shown that cardiac rehabilitation improves myocardial perfusion in CAD patients. However, the long-term (> or = 1 year) effect of cardiac rehabilitation on myocardial perfusion is still controversial. The effect of long-term exercise training on myocardial perfusion in CAD patients was assessed using thallium-201 (201Tl) exercise studies at a baseline (4 months after the onset of CAD) and at a 1-year or more follow-up in 58 patients with stable CAD. The subjects had been divided into a training group (n=35) participating in supervised exercise 2 times per week for the follow-up period, and the control group (n=23). There was an improvement in the myocardial perfusion on stress 201Tl scintigraphy in 20 of the 35 (57.1%) trained patients and in 3 of the 23 (13.0%) of the control patients (p<0.001). The number of 201Tl stress myocardial perfusion defect segments was significantly decreased after the cardiac rehabilitation training (231 to 153 segments), but showed no change in the control group (158 to 156 segments) (p<0.01). In spite of no significant differences in the number of involved coronary arteries, it improved (12/17 patients: 70.6%) more in the patients who had trained for more than 2 years compared to the patients who had trained for less than 2 years. The exercise tolerance increased in 25 of the 35 training group patients (71.4%), and in only 3 of the 23 control group patients (13.0%). The peak double products increased from 20,131+/-6,010 to 28,370+/-5,600 (p<0.01) in the training group, and showed no change in the control group (20,567+/-5,112 to 20,964+/-7,728 (NS)). The results indicated that the long-term physical training increased exercise tolerance and the double products of CAD patients. In addition, the training resulted in improved cardiac perfusion as evidenced by 201Tl scintigraphy. The findings suggest that exercise training is an advisable and effective treatment for patients with CAD.