From physical capacity to fitness to work in coronary patients.

The authors studied the energetic expenditures of 15 coronary patients during work. The subjects with reduced physical capacity tolerated a high fraction of their VO2 SL during their work with activity peaks close to their maximal capacity.

[Appearance on effort of an image of a sub-epicardial lesion in the absence of signs of myocardial necrosis. Clinical, electrocardiographic and coronographic studies of 10 cases]. / L'apparition à l'effort de l'image de lésion sous-épicardique en l'absence de signes de nécrose myocardique. Etude clinique, électrocardiographique et coronographique de 10 cas.

A clinical, electrocardiographic and coronarographic study of ten cases shows that surelevation of ST-segment during exercise (without any signs of infarction) correspond to very different clinical situations of anatomical state of coronary vessels, occurrence of coronary spasm and evolution of the ischemic disease. "Inversed coronary Insufficiency" is proposed to design this syndrome. Practical recommandations are formulated.

Postinfarction exercise capacity after lidoflazine treatment or physical training.

44 male postinfarction volunteers were divided into 4 groups and submitted to performance tests. Groups I and II consisted of 24 patients, 12 of whom followed a 2-month physical training program, while the other 12 served as controls. Groups III and IV (10 patients each) were included in a 10-month double-blind crossover study with lidoflazine 240 mg/day vs. placebo. The cardiovascular adaptation of the patients treated for 5 months with lidoflazine had two features in common with that observed after 2 months of physical training, namely an increase in maximal exercise capacity and, during submaximal exercise tests, a decrease in heart rate compensated for by an increase in stroke volume. In contrast to physical training, treatment with lidoflazine did not improve the peripheral oxygen consumption by the muscles.

Influence of short-term physical training on exercise tolerance after myocardial infarction.

14 patients with stabilized myocardial infarction were submitted to a functional evaluation before and after 3 sessions of interval training on the bicycle ergometer. With submaximal exercise, myocardial load decreases after short-term training, the heart rate and the blood pressure--heart rate product being significantly lower for the same oxygen consumption. Maximal working capacity, expressed in watts or oxygen consumption, increases significantly after short-term training, the benefit being one-third of that obtained after 6 weeks' training. These early changes in functional capacity are positively correlated with those obtained by a more prolonged rehabilitation program. Leg muscular blood flow during submaximal and maximal exercise tends to increase after short-term training, although this change is not systematic and thus not significant.