Article

Exercise training as part of a comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation is
recommended for patients with cardiac heart failure.
It is a valuable method for
the improvement of exercise tolerance. Some studies reported a similar
improvement with quadricipital electrical myostimulation,
but the effect of
combined exercise training and electrical myostimulation in cardiac heart failure
has not been yet evaluated in a large prospective multicentre study.
The aim of this study was to determine whether the addition of low frequency
electrical myostimulation to exercise training may improve exercise capacity
and/or muscular strength in cardiac heart failure patients. Methods Ninety-one
patients were included (mean age: 58 +/- 9 years; New York Heart Association
II/III: 52/48%, left ventricular ejection fraction: 30 +/- 7%) in a prospective
French study. The patients were randomised into two groups: 41 patients in
exercise training and 50 in exercise training + electrical myostimulation. All
patients underwent 20 exercise training sessions. In addition, in the exercise
training + electrical myostimulation group, patients underwent 20 low frequency
(10 Hz) quadricipital electrical myostimulation sessions. Each patient underwent
a cardiopulmonary exercise test, a six-minute walk test, a muscular function
evaluation and a quality of life questionnaire, before and at the end of the
study. Results A significant improvement of exercise capacity (Delta peak oxygen
uptake+15% in exercise training group and +14% in exercise training + electrical
myostimulation group) and of quality of life was observed in both groups without
statistically significant differences between the two groups. Mean creatine
kinase level increased in the exercise training group whereas it remained stable
in the combined group. Conclusions - This prospective multicentre study shows that
electrical myostimulation on top of exercise training does not demonstrate any
significant additional improvement in exercise capacity in cardiac heart failure patients.

Langue : ANGLAIS