Aerobic exercise prescription in adult heart transplant recipients: a review
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 11, 2026

A Novel Digital Platform for a Monitored Home-based Cardiac Rehabilitation Program
Published on: April 19, 2019
Vitor Oliveira Carvalho1, Edimar Alcides Bocchi, Guilherme Veiga Guimarães
1Laboratório de Insuficiência Cardíaca e Transplante do Instituto do Coração do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da USP (InCor HC-FMUSP), São Paulo, Brazil. vitor.carvalho@usp.br
Background:
Heart transplantation is a gold-standard treatment for selected patients in the terminal stages of heart failure and it can improve patients' quality of life, exercise capacity, and survival. Despite of the exercise performance in heart transplant recipients increases with respect to pre-transplantation, it still remains subnormal when compared with healthy subjects. Exercise training is an important nonpharmacological tool in heart transplant recipients to improve the exercise capacity, muscle strength, quality of life, and the chronotropic response. Despite this there is no consensus about what methods of aerobic exercise prescription are more adequate.
Aim:
The purpose of this review is to provide an up-to-date summary of the direct and indirect methods of prescription of aerobic exercise training in heart transplant recipients.
Conclusion:
The indirect methods of aerobic exercise prescription seem to be very frail and they do not seem to be reliable in heart transplant recipients.
Related Concept Videos
Exercise and Cardiovascular Response
Light to moderate physical activity initiates a series of interconnected responses in the body. The heart rate modestly increases in anticipation of the workout, followed by widespread vasodilation as oxygen consumption by skeletal muscles increases. This results in decreased peripheral resistance, increased capillary blood flow, and accelerated...
Exercise and Cardiac Output
Sustained exercise increases the muscles' oxygen demand, which can be met...
Heart Failure V: Medical Management
Heart Failure VI: Adjunct Therapies
Exercise Stress Test
Exercise stress testing, commonly known as a treadmill test, is a noninvasive procedure used to evaluate cardiovascular function and diagnose heart conditions.
Definition
An exercise stress test measures the heart's response to exertion using a treadmill or stationary bicycle. Chest electrodes record the heart's electrical activity through an ECG, and blood pressure is monitored regularly.
Purposes
Heart Failure I: Introduction

