title: Inpatient rehabilitation outcomes for patients receiving left ventricular assist device.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to evaluate outcomes of patients participating in inpatient rehabilitation program after left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Medical records of 94 patients who received LVADs between January 1, 2008, and June 30, 2010, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, were retrospectively reviewed for demographic data, and inpatient rehabilitation functional outcomes were measured by the Functional Independence Measure scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After successful implantation of LVAD, the patients were either discharged directly home from acute care (44%) or admitted to inpatient rehabilitation (56%). The patients admitted to inpatient rehabilitation were older than those discharged home. They were also more medically complex and more likely to have the LVAD placed as destination therapy. At discharge, significant improvement occurred in 17 of the 18 activities evaluated by the Functional Independence Measure scale. The mean total Functional Independence Measure scale score at admission was 77.1 compared with a score of 95.2 at discharge (P < 0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Approximately half of the patients who received LVAD therapy were admitted in the inpatient rehabilitation. After the implantation of LVAD and inpatient rehabilitation, significant functional improvements were observed. Further studies addressing the role of inpatient rehabilitation for LVAD patients are warranted.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Diseases (OA, SSK, ALC, RJT, FL-J, CMP-T), Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (RKR, MDP, TLT, DJE, MLV, SMK, CMP-T), and Department of Cardiac Surgery (SJP), Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
authors.forename: Osama
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Alsara
authors.forename: Ronald K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Reeves
authors.forename: Mary D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Pyfferoen
authors.forename: Tamra L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Trenary
authors.forename: Deborah J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Engen
authors.forename: Merri L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Vitse
authors.forename: Stacy M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kessler
authors.forename: Sudhir S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Kushwaha
authors.forename: Alfredo L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Clavell
authors.forename: Randal J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lopez-Jimenez
authors.forename: Soon J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Carmen M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Perez-Terzic
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000534:rehabilitation* / Q000601:surgery; D006353:Heart-Assist Devices; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011182:Postoperative Care / Q000379:methods; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology; D012047:Rehabilitation Centers; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016896:Treatment Outcome