[Attainment and preservation of normal exercise capacity after myocardial infarction (author's transl)]

Results of physical rehabilitation were studied in 2 groups of patients. Group A consisted of 16 men and at least 24 (mean 51.5) months had elapsed after myocardial infarction before they were entered into a training programme with supervised once-weekly classes in a school gymnasium. By contrast, the interval between infarction and onset of training was less than 12 (mean 7.0 months in the 21 patients of group B, who had exercise classes twice a week. Group A achieved an average increase in estimated aerobic capacity of 32% (p less than 0.001) in 10 months of training, group B of 33% (p less than 0.001) in 4.7 months. Further participation of group A for 26 more months resulted in an additional improvement of 11% (p less than 0.05). Differences between the groups in aerobic power and different methods of exercise testing and training are discussed. The results indicate that early physical training of groups of patients helps them to obtain a normal exercise capacity with a year after myocardial fixation. Without such intervention patients often remain restricted, but with supervised training their physical power may be improved significantly even if years have passed after the heart attack.