Heart Rate Recovery After 6-min Walking Test Predicts Acute Exacerbation in COPD.

Introduction: Abnormalities of autonomic function have been reported in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Our objectives were to identify determinants of abnormal heart rate recovery at 1 min (HRR) following completion of the 6-min walk test (6MWT) in COPD and to establish whether abnormal HRR predicts acute exacerbations (AECOPD).

Methods: Hundred one COPD patients (FEV (SD) 53 (19)  % predicted) were prospectively recruited in a multi-center study.

Effects of interval and continuous exercise training on autonomic cardiac function in COPD patients.

Background And Aim: Both interval (IT) and continuous (CT) exercise training results in an improvement of aerobic capacity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); however, their effects on cardiac autonomic function remains unclear. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of a supervised CT vs IT on autonomic cardiac function in COPD patients.

Methods: COPD patients were divided into two different groups according to training modality (IT or CT).