Effect of Aerobic Exercise Training on Aortic Wave Velocity in Obese Subjects: A Report of Five Cases

Case Report: Five subjects [1 male/4 female, mean age 43.8 (±9.7) years] participated in this study. Each subject underwent a 10-week training program (20-40 minute aerobic training sessions 3-5 times per week). Aortic wave velocity (AWV), a metric of vessel stiffness, was assessed in the thoracic aorta using a magnetic resonance imaging technique. Non-parametric statistics (Wilcoxon Signed Ranks and Friedman Test) were used to assess the impact of aerobic exercise training on maximal oxygen consumption (VO2Max), oxygen consumption at ventilatory threshold (VO2 at VT), body mass index (BMI), and AWV. Improvements in VO2Max [24.3 (±6.0) vs. 26.0 (±5.9) ml•kg•min], VO2 at VT [15.0 (±3.2) vs. 17.9 (±2.6) ml•kg•min] and BMI [41.1 (±5.2) vs. 39.4 (±5.8) kg/m] were all significant following training (p<0.05). AWV prior to, at the midpoint and following the completion of aerobic exercise training was 9.9 (±1.2), 7.6 (±1.8) and 6.2 (±1.4) m/s, respectively. The difference between pre and post training AWV measurements was significant (p=0.007).