The effect of concurrent training on the selected variables of blood and vascular biomechanics in patients after coronary artery angioplasty with an emphasis on gender.

Cardiac rehabilitation programs are used as therapeutic and rehabilitation programs after myocardial infarction and angioplasty in order to reduce cardiovascular disease mortality since different training methods and gender differences have unique effects on the structural and functional responses of the cardiovascular system. Sixty men and women with coronary artery disease who underwent angioplasty were randomly divided into two groups of experiment (concurrent training and control group) in this prospective and semi-laboratory research with a pre- and post-test design. Forty minutes of aerobic training based on ACSM instructions (three sessions a week for eight weeks) and then twenty minutes of resistance training (two sessions a week) were performed in the training group in order to rehabilitate the patients. No significant difference was observed between the two genders in the effectiveness of concurrent training on the selected variables of blood and vascular biomechanics in the left femoral artery (especially on the resting lumen diameter in the systolic [ P = 0.22] and diastolic phases [ P = 0.43]). A global effect of concurrent training was observed, resulting in an increase in the resting lumen diameter in the systolic and diastolic phases (P < 0.001). No interaction effect was reported on artery compliance (P = 0.69), blood flow intensity (P = 0.85), and intima-media thickness to resting lumen diameter ratio (P = 0.56) and the decrease in the variables of blood flow velocity (P = 0.93, P = 0.73) and blood pressure (P = 0.78, P = 0.81) in the systolic and diastolic phases of the left femoral artery. Using the beneficial effects of concurrent training with appropriate intensity and duration is recommended in middle-aged (40–65 years old) male and female patients after coronary artery angioplasty in order to improve the variables of blood and vascular biomechanics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]