Relationship of subclinical atherosclerosis indicators to exercise tolerance in patients with coronary heart disease

AIM: To study the spread of a number of indicators of subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) and the pattern of their relationship to their functional state and muscle mass. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Twenty patients with chronic forms of CHD were examined. Vascular wall stiffness was judged from pulse wave velocity (PWV) along elastic-type vessels, by calculating the carotid-femoral index (CFI). Endothelial function was estimated by endothelium-dependent vasodilation (EDV) in a reactive hyperemia test. Ultrasound scanning of the common carotid artery was used to estimate intima-media thickness. All the patients underwent bicycle ergometry; their exercise tolerance (ET) was determined by the amount of consumed oxygen when the metabolic equivalent (MET) was calculated; the percentages of active cell mass (ACM%) and lean mass (LM%) of total body weight were determined; the levels of total cholesterol, high- and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides were estimated. A control group comprised 20 matched persons without CHD. RESULTS: A prognostically unfavorable increase of >12 m/sec in CFI was revealed in 20% of the patients with CHD and in 10% of the controls; endothelial vasomotor dysfunction (EDV < 10%) in 65 and 50%; a more than 0.9-mm increase in 55 and 15%, respectively. A low ET was stated in the majority of patients with abnormal vascular stiffness and endothelial vasomotor dysfunction. The CHD patients with a low ET were found to have significant correlations of CFI with ACM% and LM%, EDV and ACM% and LM%, CFI and EDV. The control patients with a low ET also showed correlations of EDV and ACM% and LM%. There was a correlation of ACM% and LM% with MET in both groups. CONCLUSION: EDV and PWV reflect a more decrease in physical activity and dysadapted functional status than in the degree of subclinical atherosclerosis.