OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of treadmill exercise on central hemodynamics in patients with coronary artery disease.

METHODSSixty-eight consecutive patients below 60 years of age with the diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD) between July, 2013 and April, 2014 underwent treadmill exercise test following the standard Bruce protocol. Ninety-seven individuals without CAD served as the control group. Central hemodynamics of the subjects, including the central aortic blood pressure (cSBP), augmentation index (AI) and augmentation pressure (AP), were examined before and after the exercise.

RESULTScSBP increased significantly after acute exercise in both groups (P<0.001). Immediately after treadmill exercise, AI showed no significant changes in CAD patients (P=0.561) but decreased significantly in the control subjects (P<0.001). AI before exercise and cSBP after exercise were significantly higher in CAD group than in the control group (P=0.009 and 0.009, respectively). Stepwise regression analysis showed that the maximal heart rate after exercise was the main factor that affected cSBP increment in CAD group (P=0.012), and the occurrence of ischemia after exercise was associated with a lower cSBP increment (P=0.048).

CONCLUSIONAI does not decrease significantly after acute exercise in patients with CAD, suggesting that AI is closely associated with coronary artery blood perfusion after exercise and may serve as a potential target for improving ischemic threshold during rehabilitation of the patients.