Prognostic Role of Left Ventricular Dysfunction in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease After an Ambulatory Cardiac Rehabilitation Program

The relationship between left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and outcomes after cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is not well established; therefore we assessed the prognostic role of LVEF at the end of ambulatory CR program in patients (pts) who received coronary revascularization. LVEF was evaluated at hospital discharge and re-assessed at the end of CR in all ST-elevation myocardial infarction and coronary artery bypass graft pts, while in pts with non-ST-elevation MI or elective percutaneous coronary intervention the echocardiography was repeated if they had an impaired LVEF at discharge. New hospitalizations for cardiovascular causes at 1-year, and cardiovascular mortality during long-term follow-up were analyzed. We enrolled in CR 3078 pts, 86% showed LVEF ≥40% and 9% LVEF During a mean follow up of 48 ± 25 months, cardiovascular death occurred in 9% of pts with LVEF