[Ventricular function in the normal subject and the coronary patient following exercise].

The effect of acute exercise stress on cardiac function varies between individuals. This variation can be attributed to differences in the degree of physical fitness, quality of coronary circulation and myocardial oxygenation and contractility. Extended long term physical training regimes can induce chronic modifications of cardiac function in both healthy individuals and subjects with coronary artery disease. These modifications are evident at rest and during submaximal and maximal work levels. It is not yet clear however, that exercise training induces a hypertrophic response of the ventricular walls in either healthy subjects or coronary patients although it is generally accepted that the functional capacity of the myocardial tissue is improved in both cases. The present report reviews recent data regarding the modifications of cardiac function in both normal healthy subjects and cardiac patients following exercise training.