title: Electrical stimulation of skeletal muscles. An alternative to aerobic exercise training in patients with chronic heart failure?
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Functional Diagnostics and Rehabilitation, St. Anna Faculty Hospital and Masaryk University of Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Petr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dobsák
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nováková
authors.forename: Bohumil
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fiser
authors.forename: Jarmila
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Siegelová
authors.forename: Pavla
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Balcárková
authors.forename: Lenka
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Spinarová
authors.forename: Jirí
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vítovec
authors.forename: Naoyoshi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Minami
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nagasaka
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kohzuki
authors.forename: Tomoyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yambe
authors.forename: Kou
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Imachi
authors.forename: Shin-ichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nitta
authors.forename: Jean-Christophe
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Eicher
authors.forename: Jean-Eric
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Wolf
mesh_terms: 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