Effect of a cardiac rehabilitation program on exercise oscillatory ventilation in Japanese patients with heart failure.

Although exercise oscillatory ventilation has emerged as a potent independent risk factor for adverse prognosis in heart failure, it is not well known whether cardiac rehabilitation can improve oscillatory ventilation. In this study, we investigated the magnitude of oscillations in ventilation before and after cardiac rehabilitation in chronic heart failure patients with exercise oscillatory ventilation. Cardiac rehabilitation (5-month program) was performed in 26 patients with chronic heart failure who showed an oscillatory ventilation pattern during cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPX).