Feasibility of inpatient cardiac rehabilitation after percutaneous mitral valve reconstruction using clipping procedures: a retrospective analysis

Abstract

Background: To date, no studies on the feasibility or outcomes of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) after percutaneous mitral valve reconstruction using clipping procedures have been published. The aim of this study was to report on our first experiences with this special target group. Methods: Monocentric retrospective analysis of 27 patients (72 ± 12 years old, 52% female) who underwent multimodal inpatient CR in the first 2 month after MitraClip™ implantation. A six-minute-walking-test, a handgrip-strength-test and the Berg-Balance-Scale was conducted at the beginning and end of CR. Echocardiography was performed to rule out device-related complications. Results: Adapted inpatient CR started 16 ± 13 days after clipping intervention and lasted 22 ± 4 days. In 4 patients (15%) CR had to be interrupted or aborted prematurely due to cardiac decompensations. All other patients (85%) completed CR period without complications. Six-minute-walking-distance improved from 272 ± 97 to 304 ± 111 m (p