Abstract

BACKGROUND: Exercise and rehabilitation are important methods for decreasing the risk factors of coronary artery disease (CAD). We aimed to evaluate the effect of the cardiac rehabilitation (CR) exercise program on the cardiac structure and physiology in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). METHODS: In this randomized controlled study, 146 patients with CAD were divided equally into two groups: case group (undertaking CR after PCI) and control group (without rehabilitation after PCI). All the patients in the case group underwent echocardiography (before and after CR), and echocardiography was performed for the control group simultaneously. The CR exercise program encompassed 24 sessions, twice or three times a week, with each session lasting between 15 and 45 minutes, depending on the individual patient's tolerance. Left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction, LV diastolic function, LV end-systolic and diastolic diameter, and right ventricular (RV) end-diastolic diameter were measured in the CR group before and after rehabilitation and compared to those in the control group at the same times. RESULTS: In this study, 146 patients (46 female and 100 male) were evaluated: 73 in the rehabilitation group and 73 in the control group. The mean age of the patients in the CR and control groups was 58.05 +/- 10.27 and 56.76 +/- 10.07 years, respectively. The CR exercise program had useful effects on LV diastolic function after PCI. The distribution of LV diastolic dysfunction after the CR exercise program was changed significantly only in the CR group (p value = 0.043). In the CR group, normal, grade I, grade II, and grade III LV diastolic dysfunction were observed in 20.5, 69.8, 6.8, and 2.7, respectively. This distribution was changed respectively to 30.1, 61.6, 5.4, and 2.7 following CR, which showed a significant improvement due to CR in LV diastolic function, most prominently in the patients with grade I diastolic dysfunction (p value = 0.390). There was no significant change in LV and RV diameter before and after rehabilitation, while the ejection fraction increased significantly (p value < 0.05) in both groups. CONCLUSION: The RC exercise program can be effective in the augmentation of LV diastolic dysfunction after PCI, without significant changes in LV diameters.