Hand blood flow and cardiac functional response to severe exercise in normal subjects and patients with valvular heart disease.

Hand blood flow and cardiac function were measured in 4 patients with mitral stenosis, 5 patients with aortic incompetence, and 5 patients with aortic stenosis. The patients had little or moderate functional impairment and few subjective symptoms. The changes in hand blood flow and cardiac function at rest and during leg exercise at half maximum capacity were compared to that of 6 patients without heart disease. During and after exercise the hand blood flow decreased to values lower than observed in the reference group. Increased blood flow resistance during exercise was predominantly found in patients who presented pathological cardiac functional response to the exercise. It is concluded that the sympathetic nervous system, as a compensatory mechanism, is activated more during exercise in patients with even slight degree of valvular heart disease than in normal subjects.