Clinical significance of coronary vascular adaptations to exercise training

Coronary vascular adaptations to exercise training have been extensively studied at the microscopic level in animals and correlated with direct and indirect measurements of myocardial blood flow in patients with coronary artery disease. Animals have permitted more extensive study. These findings have generally supported an increased blood flow to the myocardium with exercise training. However, consistent positive structural and functional adaptations to training have not been observed in large animals. Clinical studies have been limited by methodological problems related to techniques for detecting ischemia and measuring myocardial blood flow and the variability in exercise stimulus. Well-established ischemia and high-intensity, long-duration training were the factors that promoted vascular growth in exercising patients with coronary artery disease. Animals studies also have demonstrated the necessity for myocardial ischemia to be present to induce coronary collateral development with exercise training. Optimal promoters of vascular growth in patients with coronary disease may consist of pharmacological interventions combined with exercise training.