The benefits of exercise based cardiac rehabilitation in congestive heart failure--a case series.

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) for congestive heart failure (CHF) has become the main source of interest among cardiologists and rehabilitation specialists. The aims of the study were to assess the effects of supervised cardiac rehabilitation and a structured home based program on functional capacity and QoL in patients with CHF for which ten patients with CHF having NYHA class II-IV were rehabilitated using an individualized 9 week, supervised, progressive exercise based phase-1 and 2 cardiac rehabilitation program. Patients were discharged on an average within 5-7 days and an 8-week home based phase-2 program was given. Patients were followed up telephonically every week during which adherence and progression of exercises were monitored. The medical outcomes survey short form (SF-36), Minnesota living with heart failure questionnaire (MLHFQ), the six minute walk test (6MWT), time taken for heart rate recovery (HRR) and RPE post-6MWT were assessed at discharge and 8 weeks follow up. A pre-post analysis showed a significant difference in the SF-36, MLHFQ and 6MWT distance (p < 0.05). These findings suggest that early exercise based CR and a home based program improve QoL and 6MWT distance in patients with CHF.