Degree and Direction of Change of Body Weight in Cardiac Rehabilitation and Impact on Exercise Capacity and Cardiac Risk Factors.

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) improves functional capacity and reduces mortality in patients with cardiovascular disease. It also improves cardiovascular risk factors and aids in weight reduction. Because of the increase in morbidly obese patients with cardiovascular disease, the prevalence of obesity and patterns of weight change in those undergoing CR merit fresh study.

Effect of early enrollment on outcomes in cardiac rehabilitation.

Outpatient cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is most beneficial when delivered 1 to 3 weeks after the index cardiac event. The effects of delayed enrollment on subsequent outcomes are unclear. A total of 1,241 patients were enrolled in CR after recent (<1 year) treatment of cardiac events or postcardiac surgery.

Prognostic value of normal stress echocardiography in obese patients.

Background: Chest pain is a common problem in obese patients. Because of the body habitus, the results of noninvasive evaluation for CAD may be limited in this group.

Methods: We reviewed the records of 1446 consecutive patients who had undergone clinically indicated stress echocardiography (SE).

Papillary fibroelastoma of the mitral valve chordae with systemic embolization.

Papillary fibroelastoma (PFE) is a rare benign tumor that most commonly involves heart valves. Cardiac PFE involving the mitral chorda is rarer. Most papillary PFE are asymptomatic; rarely, they are diagnosed because of cardiac symptoms or after an embolic event.