Korean J Sports Med.  2016 Jun;34(1):78-82. 10.5763/kjsm.2016.34.1.78.

The Effect of Individualized Exercise Parameters Applied to Two Patients Recovering from Implanted Left Ventricular Assist Devices in Korea

• Seo YG
• Sung JD
• Park WH

• KMID: 2361673
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5763/kjsm.2016.34.1.78

Abstract

Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are a treatment option for patients with severe chronic heart failure. These patients are referred to an inpatient cardiac rehabilitation after implantation to improve an aerobic capacity and quality of life (QOL). Several studies have reported that an exercise therapy, which is a component of cardiac rehabilitation, improves exercise capacity and QOL. The LVADs were implanted successfully in a destination therapy in two Korean patients, and these patients were enrolled in the cardiac rehabilitation. After an individualized intervention, they were discharged from improved exercise functional capacity and QOL. This is the first report showing a benefit of the individualized exercise therapy using different parameters after LVADs implantation in Korea.

Keyword

Exercise therapy; Heart failure; Ventricular assist devices

MeSH Terms

Exercise Therapy
Heart Failure
Heart-Assist Devices*
Humans
Inpatients
Korea*
Quality of Life
Rehabilitation

Figure

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  Fig. 1. Chest X-ray view after implantation. The successful implantation of the continuous flow left ventricular assist device (HeartMate II) was showed in the figure. First case (A), second case (B).

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  Fig. 2. The 6-minute walk test results for the patients (bar). There was improvement to walk distance in our cases. It means that these patients were improved exercise capacity after the intervention. Pre: pre-rehabilitation, Post: post-rehabilitation.

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  Fig. 3. Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ) score was showed. All scores of post-rehabilitation (Post) were decreased that means quality of life was improved relative to pre-rehabilitation (Pre). First case (A), second case (B).

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