Integrating Cardiac Rehabilitation with Neurorehabilitation in a Patient with Ischemic Stroke after Cardiac Surgery: a Case Report

Stroke and cardiac disorders are difficult to approach separately. Stroke survivors commonly have cardiovascular comorbidities and vice versa. These patients often need both neurorehabilitation and cardiac rehabilitation; therefore, this is an important issue in the rehabilitation process. However, no consensus has been reached on the integration of cardiac rehabilitation and neurorehabilitation. We report the case of a 52-year-old male patient who had ischemic stroke after mitral valvuloplasty. The patient underwent 3 weeks of inpatient neurorehabilitation, and then transited to 6 weeks of outpatient cardiac rehabilitation and occupational therapy. After 9 weeks of well-integrated rehabilitation, the patient experienced neurologic recovery and improvement in his cardiopulmonary fitness. Like this case, successful integrated rehabilitation will contribute to enhancing patients' functional recovery.