Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation significantly enhanced flow-mediated dilation (standardised mean change 1.04; 95% CI 0.76 to 1.31) in patients with coronary artery disease.
Meta-Analysis
Does exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation improve endothelial and vascular smooth muscle function in coronary artery disease patients?
Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation significantly improves endothelial-dependent dilation in patients with coronary artery disease, providing a mechanistic basis for its role in preventing cardiovascular events.
Effect estimate: Standardised mean change 1.04 (95% CI 0.76 to 1.31)
Abstract Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation may be an effective non-pharmacological intervention for improving endothelial function in coronary artery disease patients. Therefore, this systematic review with meta-analysis aimed to (a) estimate the training-induced effect on endothelial and vascular smooth muscle function, assessed by flow-mediated dilation and nitroglycerin-mediated dilation, respectively, in coronary artery disease patients; and to (b) study the influence of potential trial-level variables (i. e. study and intervention characteristics) on the training-induced effect on endothelial and vascular smooth muscle function. Electronic searches were performed in Pubmed, Scopus, and Embase up to February 2021. Random-effects models of standardised mean change were estimated. Heterogeneity analyses were performed by using the Chi 2 test and I 2 index. Our results showed that exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation significantly enhanced flow-mediated dilation (1.04 95% confidence interval=0.76 to 1.31) but did not significantly change nitroglycerin-mediated dilation (0.05 95% confidence interval=–0.03 to 0.13). Heterogeneity testing reached statistical significance (p<.001) with high inconsistency for flow-mediated dilation (I 2 =92%). Nevertheless, none of the analysed variables influenced the training-induced effect on flow-mediated dilation. Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation seems to be an effective therapeutic strategy for improving endothelial-dependent dilation in coronary artery disease patients, which may aid in the prevention of cardiovascular events.
Manresa‐Rocamora et al. (Mon,) conducted a meta-analysis in Coronary artery disease. Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation was evaluated on Flow-mediated dilation (Standardised mean change 1.04, 95% CI 0.76 to 1.31). Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation significantly enhanced flow-mediated dilation (standardised mean change 1.04; 95% CI 0.76 to 1.31) in patients with coronary artery disease.