Arq. Bras. Cardiol. 2020; 114(4): 708-710
Time to Include Balance Training in the Cardiac Rehabilitation Programs of Patients with Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction
This Short Editorial is referred by the Research article "Dynamic Balance and Mobility Explain Quality of Life in HFpEF, Outperforming All the Other Physical Fitness Components".
The burden of heart failure exerts a significant personal, social and economic impact not only on patients and their families but also on society (including health care systems). Heart failure is a chronic, progressive condition affecting a huge amount of individuals worldwide (>37.7 million cases estimated in 2010). It is characterized by typical symptoms (e.g. breathlessness and fatigue) that may be accompanied by signs (e.g. peripheral edema) caused by cardiac abnormalities – structural and/or functional –, resulting in reduced cardiac output and/or elevated intracardiac pressures at rest or during stress. Heart failure has been categorized in heart failure with preserved (HFpEF), mid-range (HFmrEF) and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) according to the left ventricular ejection fraction.
Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction has become an increasingly recognized phenotype; despite being primarily considered a condition that affects old-age individuals, it represents approximately half of all cases of heart failure. , Despite the available pharmacological and device therapies, heart failure patients’ prognosis, quality of life, and 5-year survival remain poor and similar across all heart failure categories. –
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