Intermittent claudication: exercise-increased walking distance is not related to improved cardiopulmonary fitness.
OBJECTIVE
To assess if exercise training improves the symptoms of intermittent claudication by improvement in cardiopulmonary fitness.


METHODS
Claudication distance (CD), maximum walking distance (MWD), calf endurance (repetitive heel raises), cardiovascular fitness (VO2 peak), and ankle-brachial pressure index (ABPI) were measured in 16 subjects with intermittent claudication before, and following an 8-week treadmill training programme.


RESULTS
Training resulted in a median increase in CD of 65.5 m (p<0.01), MWD of 339.5 m (p<0.001) and HR of 19 (p<0.03). Notably, improvements in MWD correlated with those in HR (p=0.001; R=0.75). There was no training-associated change in VO2 peak (median increase of only 0.35 ml/kg/min; p=0.60) or ABPI (median increase of only 0.01; p=0.64).


CONCLUSIONS
In this study, overall improvement in claudication was not related to an improvement in cardiopulmonary fitness.
Ng
P W K
PW
Department of Surgery, The Royal Free and University College Medical School, The Middlesex Hospital, Mortimer Street, London W1T 3AA, UK.
Hollingsworth
S J
SJ
Luery
H
H
Kumana
T J
TJ
Chaloner
E J
EJ
D000368:Aged; D002320:Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena; D015444:Exercise; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007383:Intermittent Claudication / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology*; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*