Twenty-four hour blood pressure after exercise in patients with coronary artery disease

The objective was to assess the influence of a cardiac rehabilitation train ing session on blood pressure measured shortly after exercise and during th e subsequent 24 h in patients with stable coronary artery disease. Blood pr essure was measured conventionally and by use of 24-h ambulatory blood pres sure monitoring in seven men, mean age 53 +/- 8 (s.d.) years, after partici pation in a cardiac rehabilitation session and, in randomised order, on a n on-exercise control day. Conventional blood pressure averaged 112 +/- 7/77 +/- 5 mm Hg in the sitting position on the control day and was not differen t at the same time of the day shortly after the patients had participated i n a cardiac rehabilitation training session. Standing systolic pressure was lower by 7.8 +/- 4.3 mm Hg (P < 0.005) after exercise compared to the cont rol situation, but this was not associated with orthostatic symptoms. Howev er, ambulatory monitoring showed no differences in blood pressure with the nonexercise day during the subsequent 24-h period. In conclusion, standing but not sitting blood pressure was slightly lower shortly after a cardiac r ehabilitation session, but the postexercise orthostatic hypotension was not sustained during normal activities of daily living.