Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a life-threatening syndrome caused by inadequate cardiac function, which may lead to reduced peripheral blood flow, deconditioning and skeletal muscle atrophy. Initially, a study of the biological and technical reliability of the techniques used in the
latter chapters was conducted. Reliability of these techniques has not previously been documented in a population of CHF patients. The second study is a cross-sectional study comparing forearm blood flow (FBF) in CHF patients and age-matched healthy volunteers. The third study was the primary focus of this dissertation, with the emphases on the effects of resistance exercise training on FBF in patients with CHF using a prospective randomized design. This is the largest study of its type to be published to date. Although aerobic training can improve patients' functional status, there have been no reports of improvements in skeletal muscle strength and endurance, nor a reversal of muscle wasting, after aerobic training.
Resistance training has recently been proposed as a means of partially reversing the skeletal muscle problems associated with CHF, thereby improving exercise tolerance. Since peripheral blood flow has been linked to the exercise intolerance observed in this clinical population, muscle strength and endurance and V02peak were also assessed in these patients.