No abstract

This study examined the effect of exercise on liver function in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD). 1) Twenty-five patients with CLD (21 with chronic hepatitis (CH) and 4 with liver cirrhosis (LC] and 10 healthy subjects were administered an exercise test employing a treadmill. The load applied was 6.5 Mets and was administered for a period of 10 min. The serum levels of S-GOT, S-GPT, LDH, CPK, triglyceride, GOTm and GLDH were measured before exercise and 1 h, 24 h and 7 days after exercise in the patients with CLD, and before and 24 h after exercise in the healthy subjects. i. The patients with CLD showed an increase in GLDH 24 h after exercise (p less than 0.005), a decline in LDH 1 h (p less than 0.05) and 24 h (p less than 0.01) after exercise, and a decrease in triglyceride 24 h after exercise (p less than 0.005) as compared with pre-exercise values. No significant changes were observed in S-GOT, S-GPT, CPK or GOTm levels. ii. The mean values and standard deviations (SD) of S-GOT and S-GPT during the 3-month period immediately preceding the study were calculated for all 25 patients. Increases in S-GOT of more than 1 SD were observed after exercise in 5 patients (20%); another 5 patients (20%) showed similar increases in S-GPT. The number of overlapping cases in which increases in both S-GOT and S-GPT were observed was 2 (8%). iii. No significant differences were found in mean HR during exercise/predicted max HR, or mean BP during exercise between patients with increased S-GOT and those without, or between patients with increased S-GPT and those without. iv. In the healthy subjects, there was a significant increase in GOTm (p less than 0.05) following exercise, but no such increase in S-GOT, S-GPT, CPK or GLDH. 2) The number of steps taken per day measured by a pedometer was selected as a parameter of daily exercise and examined in 14 patients with CLD (9 with CH and 5 with LC). No significant correlation was found between mean number of walking steps and S-GOT and S-GPT levels for patients with either type of CLD. The results of this study indicate that moderate exercise was well tolerated in the majority of patients with CLD.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

SUMMARYA 48-year-old man had histologically demonstrated cardiac involvement associated with progressive muscular dystrophy. On coronary arteriography, numerous vascular communications between the coronary arteries and the left ventricular chamber were found. These vascular communications are considered to be the arterioluminal vessels. This is the first report of a case of progressive muscular dystrophy with numerous arterioluminal vessels. Additional Indexing Words: Coronary arteryCardiac luminal anastomoses Cardiomyopathy ARDIAC involvement in patients with progressive muscular dystrophy has been reported, namely, cardiomyopathy and various kinds of electrocardiographic abnormalities.1),2) There have been, however, only a few descriptions concerning abnormalities of the coronary artery in patients with progressive muscular dystrophy.3),4) CASE REPORTA 48-year-old man, an office clerk, had been well until his mid forties, when he became aware of difficulty in moving his extremities and bending the trunk. In the few weeks before hospitalization tachyarrhythmias occurred frequently.He had no past history of note. Physical examination revealed a thin man who , was 173cm tall and weighed 43kg.His blood pressure was 122/72mmHg and heart rate was 92 beats per minute with an irregular rhythm.No heart murmur was audible and the lungs were clear. There was symmetric muscle atrophy of the hip, shoulder, upper and lower extremities, being prominent in the proximal porFrom the First