Electrical stimulation of skeletal muscles. An alternative to aerobic exercise training in patients with chronic heart failure?
The aim of this study was to investigate whether electrical stimulation of skeletal muscles could represent a rehabilitation alternative for patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). Thirty patients with CHF and NYHA class II-III were randomly assigned to a rehabilitation program using either electrical stimulation of skeletal muscles or bicycle training. Patients in the first group (n = 15) had 8 weeks of home-based low-frequency electrical stimulation (LFES) applied simultaneously to the quadriceps and calf muscles of both legs (1 h/day for 7 days/week); patients in the second group (n = 15) underwent 8 weeks of 40 minute aerobic exercise (3 times a week). After the 8-week period significant increases in several functional parameters were observed in both groups: maximal VO2 uptake (LFES group: from 17.5 +/- 4.4 mL/kg/min to 18.3 +/- 4.2 mL/kg/min, P < 0.05; bicycle group: from 18.1 +/- 3.9 mL/kg/min to 19.3 +/- 4.1 mL/kg/min, P < 0.01), maximal workload (LFES group: from 84.3 +/- 15.2 W to 95.9 +/- 9.8 W, P < 0.05; bicycle group: from 91.2 +/- 13.4 W to 112.9 +/- 10.8 W, P < 0.01), distance walked in 6 minutes (LFES group: from 398 +/- 105 m to 435 +/- 112 m, P < 0.05; bicycle group: from 425 +/- 118 m to 483 +/- 120 m, P < 0.03), and exercise duration (LFES group: from 488 +/- 45 seconds to 568 +/- 120 seconds, P < 0.05; bicycle group: from 510 +/- 90 seconds to 611 +/- 112 seconds, P < 0.03). These results demonstrate that an improvement of exercise capacities can be achieved either by classical exercise training or by home-based electrical stimulation. LFES should be considered as a valuable alternative to classical exercise training in patients with CHF.
Dobsák
Petr
P
Department of Functional Diagnostics and Rehabilitation, St. Anna Faculty Hospital and Masaryk University of Brno, Czech Republic.
Nováková
Marie
M
Fiser
Bohumil
B
Siegelová
Jarmila
J
Balcárková
Pavla
P
Spinarová
Lenka
L
Vítovec
Jirí
J
Minami
Naoyoshi
N
Nagasaka
Makoto
M
Kohzuki
Masahiro
M
Yambe
Tomoyuki
T
Imachi
Kou
K
Nitta
Shin-ichi
S
Eicher
Jean-Christophe
JC
Wolf
Jean-Eric
JE
D001642:Bicycling / Q000502:physiology*; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D017079:Exercise Tolerance / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D011788:Quality of Life; D013318:Stroke Volume / Q000502:physiology