Cardiac rehabilitation in a heart failure patient after left ventricular assist device insertion and subsequent heart transplantation: A case report

BACKGROUND: Insertion of a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) and heart transplantation (HT) improve the survival of patients with heart failure. In addition, cardiac rehabilitation (CR) further increases the functional capacity. This case report describes a successful case of CR after LVAD insertion and subsequent HT. CASE SUMMARY: In the present case, during the LVAD insertion period, peak oxygen consumption (VO(2)) increased by 12.16% after CR. HT was performed 7 mo after the LVAD insertion, and the patient participated in phases I and II CR. The peak VO(2) increased from 17.24 to 22.29 mL/kg/min. This improvement was more significant than that reported in previous studies on CR after LVAD insertion or HT. The patient’s quality of life also improved. The total average score of the short form-36 questionnaire increased from 29.5 points at admission to 53.3 points 9 mo after HT. CONCLUSION: A tailored CR program after LVAD insertion or HT may improve the patients’ quality of life and increase survival.