[Benefits and indications of rehabilitation for coronary heart diseases]. / Intérêt et indications de la réadaptation chez le malade coronarien.

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is an essential element in the treatment of coronary artery disease. It can be conducted on an inpatient or ambulatory basis in cardiac rehabilitation units and includes complementary exercise training and a therapeutic patient education (TPE) program. Rehabilitation can reduce the occurrence of serious cardiac events and provide better control of cardiovascular risk factors. All epidemiological surveys show that this approach is beneficial: multidisciplinary care reduces mortality after myocardial infarction and improves cardiac patients' lifestyles. Rehabilitation centers are the only structures able to conduct 3- to 4-week program of cardiac training and TPE. Unfortunately, the number of patients who participate in such programs is still too low, and cardiac rehabilitation centers are underutilized (32 % in the French cohort of the EUROASPIRE III study and about 15 % of all coronary patients). This situation is regrettable, as all registers and epidemiological surveys have confirmed the capacity of CR to improve exercise tolerance, the ischemic threshold, and secondary prevention.

Prognostic value of inducible myocardial ischemia in predicting cardiovascular events after renal transplantation.

BACKGROUND: The aims of the present study were to determine the prevalence of inducible myocardial ischemia (IMI) in renal transplant recipients (RTR) more than 50 years old, to identify predictors of IMI, and to search for its prognostic value. METHODS: Among the 377 renal transplantations performed between 1989 and 1998 in a single institution, 120 were done in patients > or =50 years old, and 97 were recruited for the study. During the last quarter of 1998, all of them underwent an exercise test (EST), an exercise-thallium 201 single photon emission computed tomography coupled with dipyridamole (SPECT), and 81% of them had a dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE). Patients with IMI subsequently underwent coronary angiography to detect coronary stenosis. RESULTS: IMI was present in 12 of the 97 patients (10%). The diagnosis was evidenced by EST in four cases, by SPECT in 11 cases, and DSE in three cases. Five of these 12 patients (42%) had significant coronary artery stenosis (> or =50%). Multivariate analysis of several pre- and post-transplant variables evidenced acute rejection and left ventricular hypertrophy as significant correlates of IMI (both P < 0.03). Patients were prospectively followed-up for 48 months for the occurrence of major cardiovascular events. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed a significant increase in cardiovascular events in the IMI group (P < 0.0001). In addition, the Cox proportional hazards model revealed that IMI and diabetes mellitus had an independent significant effect on the occurrence of major cardiovascular events. CONCLUSION: IMI was present in 10% of RTR aged > or =50 years, and was predicted by acute rejection and left ventricular hypertrophy. IMI had a strong effect on major cardiovascular events in this population.