Management and outcomes of patients with reduced ejection fraction after acute myocardial infarction in cardiac rehabilitation centers

Background: We aimed to describe the contemporary management of patients with systolic chronic heart failure (CHF) during a cardiac rehabilitation (CR) stay and present outcomes with focus on lipids, blood pressure, exercise capacity, and clinical events. Methods: Comparison of 3199 patients with moderately or severely impaired left ventricular ejection fraction (low EF, 13.3%) and 20,913 patients with slightly reduced or normal LVEF (normal EF, 86.7%) who underwent an inpatient CR period of about 3 weeks in 2009-2010. Results: Patients with low EF compared to those with normal EF were somewhat older (65.1 vs. 63.0 years, p<0.0001), and more often had risk factors such as diabetes mellitus (39.7% vs. 32.0%, p<0.0001) or other comorbidities. The overall rate of patients with regular physical activity of at least 90 minutes per week prior to CR was low overall (54.4%), and reduced in patients with low EF compared to those with normal EF (47.7% vs. 55.5%, p<0.0001). The rate of patients that achieved lower LDL cholesterol (<100mg/dl), total cholesterol (<200mg/dl) and triglyceride (<150mg/dl) values at discharge increased compared to baseline. Mean blood pressure was substantially lower in the low EF group compared to the normal EF group both at baseline (124/75 vs. 130/78mmHg, p<0.0001) and at discharge (119/72 vs. 124/74mmHg, p<0.0001). Maximum exercise improved substantially in both groups (at baseline 71 vs. 91 Watts, p<0.0001; at discharge 85 vs. 105 Watts, p<0.0001). Event rates during CR were low, and only 0.3% in the low EF group died. As limitations to this study, information on brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-pro BNP) and/or cardiac troponin were not documented, and no long-term information was collected beyond the 3-week CR stay. Conclusions: Patients with CHF account for a considerable proportion of patients in CR. Also patients with moderate/severe EF benefited from participation in CR, as their lipid profile and physical fitness improved.