Is physical activity a future therapy for patients with Marfan syndrome?

The international recommendations tend to avoid physical activity (PA) for patients with Marfan syndrome (MFS). However, exceptions have recently been made in the most recent recommendations for these patients, suggesting benefits from doing PA at low intensity only. Furthermore, there is no evidence that moderate aerobic or weight training can worsen the disease symptoms and increase mortality of MFS patients. The present review sums up the work carried out in the field of PA and MFS. The review aims to (1) identify the different types of exercise testing and training protocols and (2) discuss the feasibility and potentially beneficial nature of PA as an innovative way to manage MFS patients.

The scientific literature was reviewed using the following words: Marfan syndrome, training, physical activity, evaluation, weight training, arterial disease, aneurysms, lung damage, aortic dissection, rupture. A total of 345 studies were prospected and 43 studies were included.

A limited number of studies were done in humans, however one demonstrated the feasibility of the management of MFS patients with PA. There were potential beneficial effects of PA on arterial structures, but this review also showed deleterious effects when PA was conducted at high intensities, corresponding to 75-85% of the maximal oxygen uptake. However, these effects have only been reported in animal studies.