Low pulse pressure does not reduce the efficacy of a heart failure exercise programme

Abstract

Patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) may have low pulse pressures (PP). This retrospective study was undertaken to analyse the relationship between PP and outcomes of a 12-week exercise training programme. Data analysed from 86 patients (69 male) aged 40 to 86 years, included: PP, functional capacity (metabolic equivalents [METS]) and quality of life (QoL) using the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ). Median pre-training PP was 54 ± 19 mmHg. Functional capacity for the same heart rate (estimated 60% heart rate reserve) and Borg rating of 13 increased from 3.6 ± 1.1 to 4.0 ± 1.2 METS (p=0.0005); MLHFQ scores improved from 26 ± 19 to 22 ± 20 (p=0.0005). There was a high correlation between PP and systolic blood pressure pre- and post-training (pre: r=0.77, p=0.0005; post: r=0.80, p=0.0005). Changes in all the above outcomes were independent of pre-training PP. In conclusion, low PP did not reduce the efficacy of an exercise training programme, indicating that CHF patients with low PP can benefit similarly to those with normal/raised PP.