Improvement in arterial stiffness following cardiac rehabilitation.

Background: Exercise has been shown to beneficially alter arterial stiffness in selected clinical settings. However, the effects of a standardized exercise protocol--"cardiac rehabilitation (CR)"--on measures of arterial stiffness in patients with established coronary heart disease (CHD) has not been well studied.

Methods: Using applanation tonometry, we studied arterial vascular properties in 26 men and 22 women (mean age 60.