Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Therefore, it seems crucial to have enough information about the treatment as well as the cardiac rehabilitation of affected patients. We aimed to investigate the effects of a period of aerobic exercise on patients with history of CVD who had undergone angioplasty. In this quasi-experimental study, 30 patients who had undergone coronary artery angioplasty were enrolled. In the pre-test phase, exercise tolerance test and echocardiography were done for the patients. The aerobic exercise was running on a treadmill to achieve 55% of the maximum heart rate in the first 4 weeks, 60% in the second 4 weeks, and 65% in the last 4 weeks. In each 60-mintute session, 20 minutes was for warming up, 30 minutes for the main exercise, and the last 10 minutes was for cooling down. In the last session, exercise tolerance test and echocardiography were repeated. After 12 weeks of aerobic exercise, the quality of all cardiac function parameters improved. However statistically significant improvement was seen in systolic and diastolic blood pressures during and after the exercise, heart rate, fractional shortening percentage, and duration of the exercise (P<0.001). 12-week aerobic exercise can positively affect the cardiovascular function of the patients with coronary angioplasty. Therefore, aerobic exercise is recommended with 55-65% of maximum heart rate for these patients.
