N. Stathopoulos, K. Koronakis, I. Dragatsi
Abstract
Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) refers to the pathologic symptomatology of the heart due to insufficient nourishment of the myocardium with oxygenated blood. The aim of the present study is to find and present, through a bibliographic review, all the important facts and advantages that cardiac rehabilitation and exercise together offer to a patient suffering from a Coronary Artery Disease and having undergone a cardiac intervention. This research is a literature review. Forty eight studies have been used for this literature review. It is indisputable that there are many and important advantages of cardiac rehabilitation and exercise in Coronary Artery Disease patients after a cardiac surgery. What is also noticed in the present study is that high-intensity programmes, when applied to such patients, can be more effective compared to the low-intensity programmes.
Keywords: Coronary artery disease, physiotherapy, rehabilitation, exercise, physical activity, bypass Graft, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA)