Abstract
The clinical benefit of physical training was evaluated in 23 patients (19 valvular heart disease and 4 coronary heart disease) after cardiac surgery. Physical training program was consisted of 3 minutes' warm-up, 6 minutes' stimulus with an intensity of 60-80% of maximal oxygen uptake in initial exercise test and 3 minutes' cool-down. This training was performed in the ward under the supervision of a physician twice a day and continued for 3-5 weeks.
Maximal VO2 uptake was increased from 20.3 to 23.5ml/min/kg (by 16%) in patients with valvular heart disease and increased from 20.3 to 22.0ml/min/kg (by 12%) in patients with coronary heart disease after training. Although the extreme muscular power was lower in patients with valvular heart disease than a control group, after training the power was increased by 21% in valvular heart disease and by 13% in coronary heart disease. In 4 patients with valvular heart disease who served as a control group undergoing without physical training, no spontaneous improvement in exercise capacity was observed.
These observations therefore indicated that physical training after cardiac surgery is beneficial in improving both the cardiac function and the power of the skeletal muscle.
