Relationships between the Optimal Load for Exercise Therapy and Left Ventricular Diastolic Function and Ankle Brachial Pressure Index in Inpatients with Heart Disease

Abstract

[Purpose] The aim of this study was to estimate the optimal load for exercise therapy based on cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPX). [Subjects and Methods] Thirty-four patients were subjected to CPX, echocardiography and ankle brachial pressure index (ABI) measurements. Early diastolic filling velocity (E), atrial filling velocity (A), and peak early diastolic velocity of the mitral annulus (e’) were measured by echocardiography, and then E/A and E/e’ were calculated. The relationships between the optimal load for exercise therapy and the echocardiographic indexes and ABI were analyzed using multiple regression and their accuracies were examined. [Results] Independent determinants of the optimal load for exercise therapy were E/e’ and ABI. Multiple regression determined the optimal load for exercise therapy as 21.98－1.06×E/e’+23.70×ABI (adjusted R²=0.365). [Conclusion] The results suggest that the optimal load for exercise therapy for inpatients with heart disease can be estimated from E/e’ and ABI.