Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of hospitalized acute heart failure patients allocated into one of the three groups - exercise training + non‑invasive ventilation (ET+NIV), ET + Sham or Control group
| Control (n = 9) | ET+Sham (n = 9) | ET+NIV (n = 11) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anthropometrics/Demographics | |||
| Male, n (%) | 7 (78%) | 8 (89%) | 7 (64%) |
| Age, years | 58 ± 7 | 57 ± 5 | 56 ± 8 |
| Weight, kg | 65.3 ± 14.8 | 74.0 ± 13.5 | 66.4 ± 10.8 |
| Height, m | 1.60 ± 0.71 | 1.68 ± 0.10 | 1.64 ± 0.40 |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 24.2 ± 5.0 | 26.9 ± 4.6 | 24.8 ± 4.0 |
| LVEF, % | 23.8 ± 4.9 | 25.4 ± 6.7 | 26.0 ± 4.8 |
| NTpro-BNP, ρg/mL | 2467 ± 547 | 2331 ± 429 | 2594 ± 633 |
| hs-CRP, mg/L | 8 ± 3 | 9 ± 4 | 9 ± 5 |
| Length of stay, days | 39 ± 15 | 23 ± 8* | 17 ± 10*† |
| Main comorbidities | |||
| Hypertension, n (%) | 5 (56%) | 3 (33%) | 5 (54%) |
| Dyslipidemia, n (%) | 4 (44%) | 1 (11%) | 1 (9%) |
| Diabetes mellitus, n (%) | 2 (22%) | 2 (22%) | 1 (9%) |
| Etiology | |||
| Ischemic, n (%) | 6 (67%) | 7 (80%) | 7 (44%) |
| Main medications | |||
| β-blocker, n (%) | 7 (78%) | 6 (67%) | 8 (73%) |
| ACE inhibitors or ARBs, n (%) | 4 (43%) | 6 (63%) | 7 (64%) |
| Diuretics, n (%) | 9 (100%) | 9 (100%) | 11 (100%) |
Definition of abbreviations: BMI: body mass index; LVEF: left ventricular ejection fraction; NTpro-BNP: brain natriuretic peptide; hs-CPR: high sensitive C-reactive protein; ACE: angiotensin conversor enzyme; ARBs: angiotensin II receptor blockers. Values expressed as mean ± standard deviation or frequency (n and %). Repeated-measures ANOVA with appropriate Bonferroni corrections was applied to variables described as mean ± standard deviation and the chi-square test was used to assess differences in categorical data.
p < 0.05 vs. Control;
p < 0.05 vs. ET+Sham