Distance covered during a six-minute walk test predicts long-term cardiovascular mortality and hospitalisation rates in men with systolic heart failure: an observational study.

Question: Does the distance covered during a 6-minute walk test predict risk of death or hospitalisation for cardiovascular reasons in men with stable heart failure over three years of follow-up?

Design: Prospective observational study.

Participants: 243 men with stable systolic heart failure, with a mean age of 60 yr (SD 11) and left ventricular ejection fraction of 29% (SD 8). According to the New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification, 15% of the participants were in Class I, 44% in Class II, 37% in Class III, and 4% in class IV.

Determinants of physical fitness in males with systolic heart failure.

Background: Heart failure (HF) is a systemic disease which affects mainly older adults. The main symptom of HF is exercise intolerance which in the course of disease can cause limitations in independent functioning. So far no study on the impact of HF on physical fitness in men, regardless of disease severity, has been reported.

The 12-week progressive quadriceps resistance training improves muscle strength, exercise capacity and quality of life in patients with stable chronic heart failure.

Background: Abnormalities in the skeletal musculature underlie exercise intolerance in chronic heart failure (CHF). We investigated, whether in CHF selective resistance training without accompanying aerobic regime favourably affects muscle strength, muscle mass and improves exercise capacity.

Methods: Ten patients with stable ischaemic CHF in NYHA class III (9 men, age: 70+/-6 years [mean+/-SD], left ventricular ejection fraction: 30+/-5%, peak oxygen consumption [peak VO(2)]: 12.