The role of the pericardium in conditioning the effects of physical training

More work needs to be done on the extent to which the pericardium can modulate the cardiovascular response to exercise and the mechanisms whereby this modulation is brought about. Studies are needed to differentiate the effects of the pericardium on the cardiovascular exercise response, comparing trained with untrained subjects. Evidence is accumulating that exercise training in patients with heart failure improves not only the performance of exercising muscles, but also has some beneficial effects on central hemodynamics. The extent to which these beneficial effects can be attributed to conditioning the pericardium remains speculative.