268 Effects of a rehabilitation program on large and small artery elasticity in patients with heart disease

Abstract

Arterial elasticity is an early marker of atherosclerotic process and is related to the cardiovascular disease risk. The aim of this prospective study was to assess the effects of a 6-week rehabilitation program on arterial compliance in patients with heart disease. 294 patients (mean age 57+/–11 years, 213 men, 81 women) were included. They performed a supervised aerobic training and multidisciplinary educational interventions five days per week, during 6 weeks. Reasons of admission were: coronary heart disease artery bypass graft surgery (32%), angioplasty percutaneous coronary interventions and stent (35%), angor pectoris or myocardial infarction (9%), aortic or mitral valve replacement or repair (11%), dilated cardiomyopathy (5%), other (8%). Large (C1) and small artery (C2) elasticity indices (in ml/mmHg) were measured using the HDI/PulseWaveTM CR-2000 Research CardioVascular Profiling System (Hypertension Diagnostics TM, Inc) before and after rehabilitation. A negative correlation was found between age and artery elasticity for both C1 and C2. After training a +8% increase in C1 (from 15.96 to 17.20 – p<0.001) and a 20% increase in C2 (from 4.19 to 5.03 – p<0.001) were observed in the whole population. C1 and C2 were significantly lower in women in comparison with men, before (respectively 14.37 and 3.39 in women vs 16.56 and 4.49 in men) and after the rehabilitation program (15.59 and 3.97 in women vs 17.78 and 5.4 in men). A similar increase in artery elasticity was found in women and men (respectively +8% vs +8% for C1, and +17% vs +20% for C2) after the rehabilitation program. A 6-week aerobic training and multidisciplinary educational program is able to improve large and small artery elasticity in patients with heart disease. This should be relevant to improve prognosis.