Effects of a Cardiac Rehabilitation Program in Patients with Congenital Heart Disease

The beneficial effects of the programs of cardiac rehabilitation in adults are widely known. Nevertheless, the accomplishment of these programs in patients with congenital heart is scarcely developed. In this study, we want to evaluate the preliminary results of a program of cardiac rehabilitation. Patients and methods: Thirty-three patients aged 8 to 40 completed the rehabilitation program. Thirty-one of them had an operated congenital heart disease, one had an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, and another was a patient with arterial hypertension and obesity. Data before and after the program were compared. Results: Improvements were found in all of the measured parameters. We found a statistically significant difference in maximum heart rate, exercise duration, foreseen heart rate’s percentage and increase of metabolic equivalents. Twenty-seven of 33 patients noticed a significant improvement in their quality of life at the end of the program. Conclusion: Initial results seem to be encouraging and we consider the experience very positive since the program achieved an improvement in the functional capacity of our patients. In our opinion, these observations and the results of our study provide strong arguments for the incorporation of cardiac rehabilitation into the care of many patients with congenital heart disease.