The effects of CPET-guided cardiac rehabilitation on exercise tolerance in older persons with CHD after PCI

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 13; no. 1; p. 19994
• Main Authors: Shen, Tao, Wang, Yuwei, Ren, Chuan, Song, Yanxin, Gao, Wei, Liu, Fen, Li, Gang, Wei, Zhimin, Wang, Peng, Zhao, Wei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 15.11.2023; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 692/4019; 692/699; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Cardiac Rehabilitation; Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular diseases; Coronary artery disease; Coronary Disease; Exercise Test; Exercise Therapy; Exercise Tolerance; Health risks; Heart diseases; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; multidisciplinary; Older people; Oxygen uptake; Patients; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention - adverse effects; Rehabilitation; Retrospective Studies; Science; Science (multidisciplinary)
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-47494-x

Prescribing appropriate exercise is an important means to improve the safety and efficacy of cardiac rehabilitation. Improper exercise may induce an increased cardiovascular risk in older persons with coronary heart disease. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET)-guided cardiac rehabilitation could be helpful for providing clinical evidence for cardiac rehabilitation therapy in older persons after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We retrospectively included older persons who underwent PCI and cardiac rehabilitation based on CPET at the Cardiac Rehabilitation Center of Peking University Third Hospital from January 2014 to December 2019. Patients’ baseline and follow-up clinical data were collected. A total of 403 older persons after PCI were included in the study. The mean age was 80.5 ± 4.3. The mean follow-up time was 12 ± 2 months. During the follow-up period, no significant exercise-related adverse events occurred, and the peak oxygen uptake (VO 2 peak) increased compared with baseline (15.5 ± 3.8 ml/min/kg vs. 17.3 ± 4.1 ml/min/kg). Among the 90 patients (22.2%) without exercise habits at baseline who started regular exercise during follow-up, the improvement in VO 2 peak was most significant, at 3.2 ± 0.4 ml/min/kg. Cardiac rehabilitation based on CPET improved exercise habits and exercise tolerance in older persons with coronary heart disease after PCI.