[Echocardiographic evaluation of myocardial infarct patients undergoing rehabilitation]

29 patients with a recent myocardial infarction underwent a M-mode echocardiographic study before and after an ergometric training in order to study the training effects on the left ventricular function and on the cardiac chambers dimensions. 25 patients in the same clinical conditions and no trained acted as a control group and were evaluated with the same procedure. Our results show, in the trained group, a significant reduction of the diastolic (-5.6%) and systolic (-6.5%) diameters of the left ventricle and of the diameter of the left atrium (-7.5%). Moreover we observed an improvement of the left ventricular kinesis, as showed by the increased systolic movement of left posterior wall and of the interventricular septum and by the increased ventricular performance, as it results from increased systolic movement of the aortic root. In the control group no significant variation of the examined data was observed. The reduction of the diameters and the improvement of the kinesis and of ventricular performance could be explained by the reduced after-load and it shows the presence of direct beneficial effects of the exercise training on the heart, consisting both of improved cardiac mechanics and of a reduced MVO2.