Efficacy and Safety of Exercise Training in Patients With Chronic Heart Failure

Abstract

Heart failure is a major and increasingly common cardiovascular syndrome, and is the end result of many cardiovascular disorders. An estimated 5 million patients in the United States have heart failure, and an additional 500 000 new cases are diagnosed annually.¹ Recent data indicate that the prevalence of heart failure in the Medicare population alone exceeds 4 million, with an annual age-adjusted incidence rate of 29 cases per 1000 person-years.² Although evidence-based pharmacological and device therapies decrease mortality, hospitalizations, and heart failure symptoms and improve quality of life, many patients treated with these regimens often remain burdened by dyspnea and fatigue, diminished exercise tolerance, reduced quality of life, recurrent hospitalizations, and early mortality.^2-5