Cardiac Rehabilitation in Patients with Left Ventricular Assistive Device (LVAD) |
Bo Ryun Kim, Seog Jae Lee, Eun Young Han |
Correspondence:
Bo Ryun Kim, |
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Abstract |
For severe heart failure patients who are refractory to medical treatments or who are unable to receive heart transplantation
because of a shortage of donor organs, left ventricular assist device (LVAD) therapy could be a valuable option as not only
bridge to transplantation but also destination therapy. The LVAD can substitute the circulatory function of one or both sides of
the heart via several pump drive mechanisms. The native left ventricle-LVAD complex responds physiologically and
demonstrates a significant circulatory reserve consistent with the capability to meet demands of daily activities. Althougth
several studies have suggested that LVAD patients showed a significant improvement in physical function, exercise capacity
and quality of life, early initiation of cardiac rehabilitation should be needed to facilitate improvements in functional
independence and survival rate in LVAD patients. To date, unfortunately, exercise training in LVAD patients is in its infancy, and
evidence on content, setting, duration of the sessions and safety are inconclusive. Therefore, the further development of various
cardiac rehabilitation programs for LVAD patients through ongoing controlled exercise training trials would be warranted. |
Key Words:
Left ventricular assist device, Heart failure, Rehabilitation |
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