Cardiorespiratory response of heart transplantation recipients to exercisein the early postoperative period

In this study, we evaluated the cardiorespiratory! function of orthotopic h eart transplantation (OHT) recipients during exercise. Seventeen male OHT r ecipients, ranging in age from 22 to 60 years, participated in this study 4 7 +/- 21 days after surgery. The control group consisted of 17 sedentary he althy men. Breath-by-breath measurement of cardiorespiratory function was o btained during the incremental exercise of leg cycling. At peak exercise, t he oxygen(O-2) uptake (16.5 +/- 3.3 vs 33.9 +/- 8.2 mL.kg(-1).min(-1)), wor k rate (82 +/- 19 vs 169 +/- 42 watts), heart rate (HR),O-2 pulse, and bloo d lactate level of the OHT recipients were significantly lower than the res pective values of the control group. At the ventilatory threshold, the OHT group also showed a significantly lower O-2, uptake (10.7 +/- 1.6 vs 18.3 /- 5.1 mL.kg(-1).min(-1)), work rate (39 +/- 12 vs 89 +/- 33 warts), HR, O- 2 pulse, ventilatory equivalent for O-2, and ventilatory equivalent for car bon dioxide. The OHT recipients showed a high resting HR (97 +/- 7 beats, m in) and a low peak HR (123 +/- 14 beats/min) during exercise, and their HR continued to increase for 1 to 3 minutes after cessation of exercise. Our d ata revealed a low level el of cardiorespiratory endurance in OHT recipient s during the early postoperative stage. A multidisciplinary cardiac rehabil itation program should be considered to enhance physical functional capacit y and quality of life, and promote return to work.