Influence of Exercise on Platelet Function in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease.

Regular exercise may reduce the risk of major cardiovascular thrombotic events. However, previous studies suggest that the risk of myocardial infarction or primary cardiac arrest is transiently increased during exercise. Thus, on the one hand, exercise seems to be able to protect against cardiovascular disease, but on the other hand, it seems to provoke sudden cardiac death. As platelets play a key role in arterial thromboembolic disease, the effect of exercise on platelet function is of special interest. This systematic review summarizes the evidence of the influence of exercise on platelet function in patients with coronary artery disease, angina pectoris, hypertension, or peripheral arterial disease. We specifically investigated, (1) if platelet function was increased in patients prior to exercise compared with healthy controls, (2) if exercise influenced platelet function differently in patients compared with healthy controls, and finally (3) if exercise reduced the effect of aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid). We performed a literature search in PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Cochrane Library. In total, 18 articles were included and grouped into studies including patients with coronary artery disease (