The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of low-intensity cardiac rehabilitation exercise on the cardiac function and the degree of fibrosis in an older white rat model. This study used male Sprague- Dawley white rats that were 50 weeks old. After the acute myocardial infarction induction, Twenty of the rats were randomly allocated into an experimental group and a control group, and each of the groups consisted of 8 rats. In the experimental group, the exercise was conducted for six weeks, 30 minutes a day, five days a week, using a Rotarod treadmill for animals. The degree of myocardial fibrosis was significantly repressed in the experimental group(13.69±1.90%) and in the control group(15.67±1.54%)(p<0.05). However, fractional shortening and ejection fraction did not show a significant difference. The results of this study suggest that cardiac rehabilitation with low intensity treadmill exercise repress the myocardial fibrosis.

Left ventricular (LV) thrombi may be caused by various conditions, particularly myocardial infarction. In most cases, LV thrombus occurs in patients with a significantly reduced ejection fraction. A LV thrombus is extremely rare in patients with normal LV function. We report a case of LV thrombus initially detected on transthoracic echocardiography and confirmed using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in a patient with normal LV wall motion. We highlight the rarity of this condition and the usefulness of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis of LV thrombus.