According to current guidelines, exercise training is considered a safe and effective treatment approach in patients with heart failure. Sufficient exercise not only improves physical performance, quality of life and the signs and symptoms of the disease, but also has a positive effect on morbidity, mortality and hospitalisation. A team led by DZHK-PI Prof. Dr. Frank Edelmann from the Charité in Berlin has designed the study "Exercise training in patients with left ventricular assist device" to investigate the effects of supervised exercise training on the functional capacity of patients with a left ventricular assist device (LVAD). Over a period of 12 weeks, the researchers were able to show that exercise training did have a positive effect on submaximal exercise capacity and physical quality of life in patients with advanced heart failure and LVAD, but lead to no improvement in maximum oxygen consumption (peak VO2). As the number of patients receiving LVAD as a target therapy is steadily increasing and life expectancy is rising in this cohort, the study lays an important foundation for future treatment approaches.
Link to the original publication: Supervised exercise training in patients with advanced heart failure and left ventricular assist device: a multicenter randomized controlled trial (Ex-VAD trial)
Further information: Ex-VAD