assessment the clinical and paraclinical effects of enhanced external counter pulsation therapy in patients with coronary artery disease

Background: the aim of this study was assessment the clinical and paraclinical effects of enhanced external counter pulsation (eecp) therapy in patients with coronary artery disease. patients and methods: we performed a retrospective analysis of data related to all patients who received eecp treatment at shafa hospitals in sari, iran from 21 march 2013 to 21 march 2015. all patient’s data included demographic data, history of underlying disease, clinical sign and symptom, laboratory data (hemoglobin, triglyceride (tg), cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (ldl), high-density lipoprotein (hdl)) and left ventricular ejection fraction (lvef) in before and after treatment by eecp were collected. results: the data of 48 patients (include 25 men) with mean age of 62.20±10.15 years were collected. the mean of tg, cholesterol, ldl and hdl were not significantly change after eecp therapy. however, the mean of hemoglobin (10.47±0.81mg/dl vs. 10.20±1.03mg/dl, p=0.019) and lvef (40.10±5.40% vs. 36.04±5.64%, p<0.0001) were significantly increased after eecp therapy. also, the mean of systolic (112.81±6.75mmhg vs. 124.27±9.56mmhg, p<0.0001) and diastolic (71.35±5.90mmhg vs. 75.52±5.38mmhg, p<0.0001) blood pressure were significantly decrease after treatment with eecp. clinical improvement of chest pain, muscle weakness, dyspnea and daily activity were observed in 14 patients (29.2%), 11 patients (22.9%), 24 patients (50%) and 28 patients (58.3%), respectively. finally 31 patients (64.6%) were satisfy form this treatment. the complication included low back pain in 6 patients (12.5%) and paresthesia in 4 patients (8.3%). conclusion: in conclusion, the results of our study show eecp therapy is a safe treatment and can reduced systolic and diastolic blood pressure, increase hemoglobin level and lvef and improve clinical condition of cad patients.