Exercise capacity following heart transplant: case report on the physical work capacity of a 37 year old competitive cyclist following orthotopic heart transplant

Paper presented to the 3rd Annual Symposium on Graduate Research and Scholarly Projects (GRASP) held at the Hughes Metropolitan Complex, Wichita State University, April 27, 2007.Research completed at the Dept. of Physician Assistant, Dept. of Physical Therapy, College of Health Professions, and Dept. of Kinesiology, College of EducationPhysical work capacity in heart transplant recipients typically does not exceed 60% of age-predicted normal levels. It is unknown what levels might be achieved in these patients if they were involved in strenuous exercise training prior to transplantation. A 37 year-old, professionally trained male cyclist suffered an acute myocardial infarction immediately following a road race and received a heart transplant four months later. The participant resumed training for competitive cycling one month following the transplant. His peak VO2 was 92% and peak heart rate was 90% of age predicted values six months post transplant. Results indicate that for this participant, a more aggressive approach to heart transplant recovery was well tolerated and suggests that similar programs could be applied to other heart transplant recipients