The influence of aetiology on the benefits of exercise training in patients with heart failure

BackgroundExercise training improves neurovascular control and functional capacity in heart failure (HF) patients. However, the influence of the aetiology on these benefits is unknown. We compared the effects of exercise training on neurovascular control and functional capacity in idiopathic, ischaemic and hypertensive HF patients.DesignSubjects consisted of 45 exercise-trained HF patients from our database (2000–2015), aged 40–70 years old, functional class II/III and ejection fraction ≤40%, and they were divided into three groups: idiopathic (n = 11), ischaemic (n = 18) and hypertensive (n = 16).MethodsFunctional capacity was determined by cardiopulmonary exercise testing. Muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) was recorded by microneurography. Forearm blood flow (FBF) was measured by venous occlusion plethysmography.ResultsFour months of exercise training significantly reduced MSNA and significantly increased FBF in all groups. However, the relative reduction in MSNA was greater in hypertensive patie...