Introduction:
Regular physical activity is safe and effective therapy for adults with CHD and is recommended by European Society of Cardiology guidelines. The COVID-19 pandemic poses enormous challenges to healthcare teams and patients when ensuring guideline compliance. We explored the implications of COVID-19 on physical activity levels in adult CHD patients.
Materials and methods:
A data-based questionnaire was distributed to adult CHD patients at a regional tertiary centre from October to November 2020.
Results:
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 96 (79.3%) of 125 respondents reported participating in regular physical activity, with 66 (52.8%) meeting target levels (moderate physical activity for at least 150 minutes per week). Commonest motivations for physical activity were general fitness (53.6%), weight loss (36.0%), and mental health benefits (30.4%). During the pandemic, the proportion that met target levels significantly decreased from 52.8% to 40.8% (p = 0.03). The commonest reason was fear of COVID-19 (28.0%), followed by loss of motivation (23.2%) and gym/fitness centre closure (15.2%).
Discussion:
The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted exercise levels of adult CHD patients. Most do not meet recommended physical activity levels, mainly attributable to fear of COVID-19. Even before the pandemic, only half of respondents met physical activity guidelines. Availability of online classes can positively impact exercise levels so could enhance guideline compliance. This insight into health perceptions and behaviours of adult CHD patients may help develop quality improvement initiatives to improve physical activity levels in this population.
Aims: Evidence for CRT in adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD) and chronic heart failure is limited, with recommendations for its use extrapolated from the population with structurally normal hearts. This retrospective observational study investigates the efficacy of CRT in this heterogenous group, discussing factors predicting response to CRT.Methods: Twenty-seven patients with structural ACHD who underwent CRT insertion or upgrade at a tertiary center in the United Kingdom were retrospectively studied.The primary outcome measure was clinical response to CRT, defined as improvement of NYHA class and/or improvement in systemic ventricular ejection fraction by one category. Secondary outcomes included change in QRS duration and adverse events.Results: Thirty-seven percent of patients had a systemic right ventricle (sRV). RBBB was the commonest baseline QRS morphology (40.7%) despite this being an unfavorable characteristic for CRT. Overall, positive response to CRT was demonstrated in 18 patients (66.7%). NYHA class improved in 55.5% following CRT (p = .001) and 40.7% showed improvement in systemic ventricular ejection fraction (p = .118). There were no baseline characteristics that predicted response to CRT, and electrocardiographic measures such as QRS shortening post-CRT was not associated with positive response.Good response rates (60.0%) were demonstrated in those with sRV.
Conclusion:CRT is efficacious in structural ACHD including in those who do not meet conventional criteria. Extrapolation of recommendations from adults with structurally normal hearts may be inappropriate. Future research should focus on improving patient selection for CRT, for example using techniques to better quantify mechanical dysynchrony and intra-procedural electrical activation mapping in these complex patients.
Background/Introduction Untreated, symptomatic, severe aortic stenosis carries significant mortality and morbidity. Timely intervention is pivotal to ensure patient safety. The COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented challenges to the UK's National Health Service (NHS), resulting in the deferral of all Abstract 16 Figure 1 Weekly physical activity prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic Abstract 16 Figure 2 Reasons for decreased physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown
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