Shortterm Physical Training in Patients with Rheumatic Heart Disease

¹ Professor of Medicine, State University of New York, Upstate Medical Center, Syracuse

Seven women with rheumatic heart disease, ages 30 to 57, were hospitalized for 11 to 18 days during which time repeated testing and efforts at physical training were made. All testing was performed with a continuously progressive treadmill test; oxygen uptake (VO₂) was measured with an unsteady state technique previously described. A significant increase in endurance after training occurred in two patients; in one this was accompanied by higher oxygen uptake and heart rate (HR). In one of the five patients who was not significantly improved by training, higher HR values at the limit of endurance were associated with lower values of VO₂. Similar differences in response could be demonstrated within, as well as between, sessions; thus, repeated testing in different patients might improve or worsen the relationship between VO₂ and HR. Two test sessions on different days sufficed to demonstrate a VO₂ value for any subject within 200 ml/min of the highest achieved during the entire series. Therefore, two weeks of physical training, which was difficult to achieve, was of comparatively little value in increasing VO₂ values at the limit of endurance.