Focused review: Exercise, cardiovascular disease, and chronic heart failure

In addition to patients with coronary artery disease, high-risk patients with severe congestive heart failure can benefit from rehabilitation. Traditionally, such patients were excluded from rehabilitation, but resistive exercise, higher-intensity programs, and interval training have now been safely conducted. Emerging data indicate that exercise training results in a number of improved physiologic and psychologic indices, including neural control, quality of life, exercise tolerance, ventricular function, skeletal muscle physiology, peripheral blood flow, and endothelial function. This review explores these beneficial outcomes through an assessment of therapeutic approaches, with special emphasis on the unique clinical characteristics of patients with congestive heart failure. Overall Article Objective: To describe the benefits and the evolving role of cardiac rehabilitation for patients with congestive heart failure.