[Cardiovascular rehabilitation]

In industrialized countries, coronary artery disease is the leading cause of mortality. Cardiovascular rehabilitation is one of the most important components of secondary prevention and is mainly prescribed after acute myocardial infarction or coronary artery revascularization. The aims of rehabilitation are not only the improvement of functional capacity but also the correction of risk factors and assistance to social and professional reintegration. There are numerous indications, including not only patients with coronary artery disease but also patients with heart failure and those who underwent cardiac surgery or heart transplantation. Cardiac rehabilitation consists in 3 successive stages. The first is performed during hospital stay. The two others take place in an approved center of multidisciplinary cardiac rehabilitation. The intensity of exercise is determined for each individual patient from the results of stress testing. The beneficial effects are well established: reduction in morbidity and mortality, improvement of quality of life and of pulmonary, cardiac, muscular and metabolic parameters. Its efficacy is only maximal when patients continue performing exercise regularly.