Impact of an exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation program on cardiopulmonary test parameters.

Introduction: The exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation program (CRP) represent a multidisciplinary therapeutic approach tailored to improving cardiorespiratory fitness and overall health-related quality of life, while reducing cardiovascular hospitalizations and mortality. Our aim is to determine changes in exercise capacity and cardiac events according to the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) following a CRP.

Methods: This single-center cohort study of 131 patients who completed a center-based CRP from 2015 to 2022. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET), transthoracic echocardiography, and laboratory analysis were conducted before and after program completion.

Results: Of 232 enrolled patients, 131 were included in our cohort analysis, with 36.6% having a reduced LVEF. These patients exhibited higher rates of atrial fibrillation (p=0.019) and NT-proBNP values (p<0.001). Patients with reduced LVEF had lower peak VO2 (p=0.046), ppVO2 (p<0.001) and VO2 at anaerobic threshold (p=0.015) during baseline CPET. Completion of the CRP lead to comparable improvements in exercise performance between groups, assessed through Δ pVO2 (p=0.990), Δ ppVO2 (p=0.610), and Δ VE/VCO2 slope (p=0.200). In the study population, male gender and hypertension independently predicted variation in VE/VCO2 slope (p=0.017) and oxygen uptake efficiency slope (p=0.048), respectively, post-CRP. During follow-up, 9.2% of all patients had hospital admissions for cardiac events, and 3.8% died, with no group differences.

Conclusion: Patients with reduced LVEF admitted to our CRP showed lower functional status based on specific CPET parameters. After CRP, both reduced and preserved LVEF groups experienced similar functional improvements. Therefore, strategies to increase participation of patients with reduced LVEF in such programs are warranted.