Abstract
BACKGROUND
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a life-threatening condition. Current ESC guidelines recommend exercise training and rehabilitation in clinically stable PAH patients.
PURPOSE
To assess the beneficial effect of exercise training on exercise capacity, quality of life and cardiac function as assessed by echocardiography and cardio-pulmonary exercise test.
METHODS
We prospectively included 12 clinically stable PAH patients over a 6 months period. Exercise stress echocardiography (ESE), cardio-pulmonary exercise test (CPET), SF-12 quality of life health survey, 6 minute walking test distance (6MWD), BNP and clinical assessment were performed before and after cardio-pulmonary rehabilitation. Patients underwent 8 weeks of exercise training (3 times a week of aerobic training and at home daily prescribed exercises).
RESULTS
All patients underwent ESE and CPET without any complication. 6 patients experienced a reduction in WHO functional class whereas 6 remained stable. Patients significantly improved their physical quality of life (p = 0.006). They also improved their exercise capacity according to maximum workload during CPET (p = 0.008) and CPET duration (p = 0.001) whereas a trend toward an improved 6MWD was observed (+58m, p = 0.10). Anaerobic threshold and peak VO2 (+1.7 ± 2.7 mL/kg/min) improved significantly (p = 0.01 and 0.03). Regarding imaging data, at rest peak strain improved after rehabilitation (p = 0.05) whereas the RV became more dilated. RV contractile reserve, defined by the change in peak systolic longitudinal RV strain between rest and maximum exercise, significantly improved (-3.9 ± 4.7%, p = 0.03)
CONCLUSION
In this preliminary study, cardio-pulmonary rehabilitation led to an improved quality of life and exercise capacity in PAH. The increased in RV contractile reserve post-rehabilitation might explain, in association with the peripheral muscular effects of exercise training, the clinical benefits of rehabilitation in PAH.
Abstract P1397 Figure. echography peak/rest in a PAH patient
Short term effects of exercise training on exercise capacity and quality of life in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension: protocol for a randomised controlled trial
