Article

The first cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programmes appeared around the 1960s when Turell and Hellerstein advocated comprehensive rehabilitation for patients recovering from acute cardiac events.1 The focus was on the successful integration of patients back into society, improving recovery times and functional status, and reducing the hospital stay; therapeutic exercise was the core component of CR. Since then, CR has undergone profound changes, with programmes now embracing secondary prevention activities2 and covering a wide spectrum of cardiovascular conditions. Today, CR and prevention programmes include patients post-percutaneous coronary intervention, after cardiac surgery including heart transplantation (HT), and with chronic heart failure (HF).3 Hence, the CR revolution has occurred in two directions: the type of interventions offered and type of patients referred. The management of patients with recent ventricular assist device (VAD) implantation represents a natural and legitimate development for contemporary CR and prevention programmes.

Langue : ANGLAIS