Antiarrhythmic effect of 9-week hybrid comprehensive telerehabilitation and its influence on cardiovascular mortality in long term follow-up - subanalysis of the TELEREHabilitation in Heart Failure Patients - TELEREH-HF Randomized Clinical Trial.

Introduction: Cardiac rehabilitation is a component of heart failure (HF) management, but its effect on ventricular arrhythmias is not well understood. We analyzed the antiarrhythmic effect of a 9-week hybrid comprehensive telerehabilitation (HCTR) program and its influence on long-term cardiovascular mortality in HF patients taken from the TELEREHabilitation in Heart Failure Patients (TELEREH-HF) trial. Material and methods: We evaluated the presence of non-sustained ventricular tachycardia (nsVT) and frequent premature ventricular complexes >= 10 beats/hour (PVCs >= 10) in 24-hour ECG monitoring at baseline and after 9-week HCTR or usual care (UC) of 773 HF patients (NYHA I-III, LVEF <= 40%). Functional response for HCTR was assessed by changes - delta (Delta) - in peak oxygen consumption (pVO(2)) as a result of comparing pVO(2) from the beginning and the end of the program. Results: Among 143 patients with nsVT, arrhythmia subsided in 30.8% after HCTR. Similarly, among 165 patients randomized to UC who had nsVT 34.5% did not show it after 9 weeks (p = 0.481). There was no significant difference in the decrease in PVC >= 10 over 9 weeks between randomization arms (14.9% vs. 17.8%, respectively p = 0.410). Functional response for HCTR in pVO(2) > 2.0 ml/kg/min did not affect occurrence of arrhythmias. Multivariable analysis did not identify HCTR as an independent factor determining improvement of nsVT or PVCs >= 10. However, only in the HCTR group, the achievement of the antiarrhythmic effect significantly reduced the cardiovascular mortality in 2-year follow-up (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Significant improvement in physical capacity after 9 weeks of HCTR did not correlate with the antiarrhythmic effect in terms of incidence of nsVT or PVCs >= 10. An antiarrhythmic effect after the 9-week HCTR affected long-term cardiovascular mortality in HF patients.