[Current aspects in the rehabilitation of patients with congenital heart defects]

Repeated examinations of patients with congenital heart diseases of "pale type" (33 patients operated upon and 20 patients not subjected to operations) were performed during continuous periods of observations. A stable rehabilitative effect was noted in the group of patients operated upon who retained their physical work capacity and adequate reactions of blood circulation and ventilation systems to physical exercise. While in men the level of physical work capacity was characterized by relative constancy, in women it had a clear tendency to elevation in the dynamics of continuous terms of observation. In the group of nonoperated patients in whose childhood the congenital heart diseases were not accompanied by lung hypertension the elevated pressure in the lung artery was observed in adult age in more than half of the cases. Deterioration of functional reserves was observed in all the patients.