Exercise after heart transplantation: An overview

Table 3 Summary of randomized controlled trials investigating the effect of exercise in heart transplant recipients

Study	n, mean age (yr)	Mean time after HTx	Intervention	Mean change in VO2peak (mL/kg per minute) within groups	Mean change in VO2peak (mL/kg per minute) between groups
Kobashigawa et al[3]	27, 52	1 mo	6 mo partly supervised rehabilitation program vs controls CG	Ex: 9.2 → 13.6	2.5
			Walking: cycling and upper and lower limb exercises for 30 min × 1-3/wk	Con: 10.4 → 12.3
Tegtbur et al[26]	32, 55	5 yr	1 yr home-based exercise program vs controls	Ex: 18.6 → 20.0	1.3
			Cycling every other day for 1 yr at 80%-90% of maximum HR	Con: 18.9 → 19.0
Bernardi et al[6]	24, 52	6 mo	6 mo home training vs controls	Ex: 14.9 → 19.6	3.4
			Cycling at 60%-70% of VO2peak 30 min × 5/wk × 6 mo	Con: 14.3 → 15.6
Karapolat et al[5]	28, 42	1.5 yr	8 wk supervised hospital training vs home-based training
			1.5 h of multiple exercises: including aerobic exercise for 30 min at 60%-70% of VO2peak× 3/wk	Ex: 16.7 → 19.5	3.4
			The controls received written guidelines on exercises and a walking program	Con: 20.1 → 19.5
Wu et al[27]	37, 56	2 yr	8 wk home training vs controls
			Strength training and aerobic exercise at 60%-70% of VO2peak: 35-40 min × 3/wk	Ex: 12.1 → 13.2	1.6
				Con: 13.7 → 13.2
Haykowsky et al[25]	43, 59	5 yr	12 wk aerobic/strength training vs controls
			First 8 wk: continuous aerobic exercise at 60%-80% of VO2peak: 30-45 min × 2/wk
			Continuous aerobic training at 80% of VO2peak, 45 min × 2/wk and bicycle interval training for 30 s at 90%-100% of VO2peak: followed by 60 s rest for 10-25 reps × 2/wk in the final 4 wk	Ex: 21.2 → 24.7	3.5
			Resistance training at 50% of 1RM: 10-15 reps × 1-2 sets × 4 exercises × 2/wk for 12 wk	Con: 18.2 → 18.2
Hermann et al[16]	27, 50	7 yr	8 wk high-intensity interval training vs controls
			Interval blocks of 4 min/2 min/30 s: corresponding to 80%: 85% and 90% of VO2peak: respectively: and recovery periods of ½ min: and finally staircase running at 80% of VO2peak: followed by recovery walking 60 min × 3/wk	Ex: 23.9 → 28.3	5.6
				Con: 24.6 → 23.4
Nytrøen et al[18]	48, 51	4 yr	1 yr high-intensity interval training vs controls
			4 interval blocks of 4 min each performed at 91% of peak HR: with 3 min active recovery periods between each block	Ex: 27.7 → 30.9	3.6
			3 periods of 8 wk distributed throughout 1 yr with exercise 3/wk for a total of 72 exercise sessions	Con: 28.5 → 28.0

HTx: Heart transplant; NT: No training; Ex: Exercise group; Con: Control group; 1RM: 1 repetition maximum; HR: Heart rate.