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Published on: February 9, 2016
Six-minute walk distance predicts VO₂ (max) in patients supported with continuous flow left ventricular assist
Roslyn A Prichard1, Marcus Juul, Gary Gazibarich
12 Center for Cardiovascular and Chronic Care, University of Technology, Sydney - Australia.
Background:
Six-minute walk distance (6MWD) and maximal oxygen uptake (VO₂ max ) are used as prognostic tools in patients with heart failure (HF). Whether these tests provide similar information in the LVAD population is not known.
Methods:
Eight patients supported with VentrAssist rotary blood pump LVADs, underwent three days of testing that included 6MWD and VO₂ max at normal, high or low speeds, generating twenty-four paired results.
Results:
The mean 6MWD was 438 (+/- 90 SD) m and the mean VO₂ (max) was 14.12 (+/-1.87) ml/kg/min. There was a modest correlation between VO₂ (max) and 6MWD (r = 0.56 p = 0.004), which improved (r = 0.72 p = 0.002) when patients with higher resting Pro BNP levels and larger left ventricular end diastolic diameters (LVEDD) were excluded.
Conclusions:
6MWD is correlated with VO₂ (max) in LVAD supported patients, with higher correlations in patients with better underlying cardiac function.
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