Background: Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) is an inflammatory mediator, reaches to the high levels after ischemic heart diseases (IHD) and could be a helpful tool to predict cardiac rehabilitation (CR) outcomes. The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of the circulating levels of PTX3 in prediction of CR outcomes in patients with IHD who had undergone coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).
Methods: One hundred patients who had undergone CABG were included in this study. The CR plan was started 6 weeks after CABG and then PTX3 level, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), ejection fraction (EF) and metabolic equivalent (MET) were assessed before and after the CR program. Finally, all gathered data were analyzed using SPSS version 22.
Results: After a 3-month course of CR program, EF, MET, PTX3 and hs-CRP values changed. Statistically significant changes were observed in EF, MET and PTX3 values (P < 0.05) after the CR program and no statistically significant changes were seen in hs-CRP value (P = 0.546) at the end of CR program. Correlations between EF levels and MET with pre-PTX3 levels were also assessed and most changes were observed in the group with pre-PTX3 level more than 0.40 ng/dL.
Conclusion: Our study showed that a regular sufficient CR program based on exercises in IHD patients after CABG increases EF and MET levels, particularly in those patients with pre-PTX3 levels more than 0.40 ng/dL.
Keywords: CABG patients; Cardiac rehabilitation; Ejection fraction; Metabolic equivalent test; Pentraxin 3.