No Synergic Effect of Sildenafil Administration on Exercise Capacity Improvement in a Fontan Patient with Regular Exercise Training.
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Date
2014-10
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Abstract
In Fontan patients, reduced exercise capacity due to diminished cardiac output is a
common finding with important prognostic implications. Beneficial effects have been
shown for sildenafil treatment and regular exercise, but data comparing both strategies is
scarce. We report on a female patient with Fontan circulation who underwent repeated
cardiopulmonary exercise tests with either placebo or a single dose of 50mg sildenafil
before and after 6months of supervised aerobic and resistance exercise. At baseline, V
O2peak was 29.1ml/min/kg, and a marked increase to 32.8ml/min/kg was observed after
administration of sildenafil. After the training period, V O2peak was 34.5ml/kg/min in the
placebo test, and no further increase by sildenafil was possible (33.7ml/kg/min). Similar
results were observed for exercise capacity at the ventilatory anaerobic threshold. In
summary, this Fontan patient showed that regular exercise might use up and probably exceed the acute sildenafil effects on exercise capacity. Exercise should be considered
as a primary treatment strategy within secondary prevention and rehabilitation after the
Fontan procedure.
Description
Keywords
Congenital heart defects, univentricular heart, Fontan circulation, exercise
Citation
Pressler Axel, Seebach Rabia, Hager Alfred. No Synergic Effect of Sildenafil Administration on Exercise Capacity Improvement in a Fontan Patient with Regular Exercise Training. Cardiology and Angiology An International Journal. 2014 Oct-Dec: 2(4): 247-252.