Assessment of the Heart's Left and Right Ventricles (EF and TAPSE) in CABG Surgery Patients before and after Cardiac Rehabilitation

Background: Post-coronary artery bypass grafting (post-CABG) is a beneficial procedure for cardiac patients. However, without an appropriate cardiac rehabilitation (CR) program, patient care may be inadequate, leading to recurrent hospitalizations and heart failure. This study aims to assess the effects of a CR program on left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) measures in post-CABG patients at Amir-almomenin, kordkuy Hospital, Golestan, Iran. Methods: This descriptive-analytic study included 100 patients who underwent post-CABG surgery in the second half of 2020, and whose complete information was available in their medical files. An echocardiologist assessed the LVEF and TAPSE of the patients. After one month of CR procedures, these measures were reevaluated and recorded. The CR program consisted of 5 to 10 sessions of physiotherapy per patient, with 2 or 3 sessions conducted per week. It involved a four-phase therapy that included light sports activities such as running and jogging on a treadmill at a CR clinic. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software version 18. Results: The data analysis of this study suggests that implementing a CR program for post- CABG patients can have beneficial effects. CR significantly increased the patients' LVEF, but the increase in TAPSE was not statistically significant. Furthermore, both male and female patients showed improved LVEF after the CR program. There was a non-significant inverse relationship between hospitalization duration and LVEF. Statistically, older patients had a significantly longer duration of hospitalization compared to younger patients. Conclusion: Completion of a cardiac rehabilitation program leads to significant improvement in left ventricular function, while the improvement in right ventricular function is relatively modest. Moreover, a significant proportion of patients were able to resume their normal daily activities after completing the rehabilitation phase.