1. Role of the Division of Cardiac Rehabilitation

The goals of cardiac rehabilitation are: 1) to restore and maintain a patient's functional capacity, 2) to improve the quality of life, and 3) to reduce the risk of morbidity and mortality due to cardiovascular diseases. To achieve these goals, the Division of Cardiac Rehabilitation affords a phase IIcardiac rehabilitation program consisting of exercise training, patient education and counseling for patients with cardiovascular diseases and with coronary risk factors.

2. Staff

At present, the official staff of this division are one cardiologist and two nurses. Exercise sessions are supervised by one or two medical doctors and a Physiological Diagnosis Laboratory staff on duty everyday. Aerobic dance sessions are conducted by two health-exercise instructors in commission. Also, a pharmacist and a dietitian take part in patient education.

3. Service

The rehabilitation program is provided for patients with acute myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, coronary artery bypass or valvular surgery, chronic heart failure, arteriosclerosis obliterans, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, or obesity. The 3-month program consists of exercise training (walking, cycle ergometry, aerobic dance, and stretch exercise), lectures (ischemic heart diseases, risk factor modification, smoking cessation, etc.) and individual counseling.

4. Effects of Cardiac Rehabilitation

After completion of the 3 month program, a significant (20% on the average) increase in exercise capacity (peak oxygen uptake), an attenuation of the heart rate increase response to exercise, an enhancement of skeletal muscle strength, an increase in HDL-cholesterol, a decrease in the percentage of body fat are usually observed. More impressively, the expression of patients, which was hard and full of anxiety at the beginning of the program, becomes lively and cheerful at end of the program.

5. Research Activity

Research subjects include cardiac and noncardiac effects of cardiac rehabilitation (including ventricular remodeling, ventilatory function, skeletal muscle function, blood coagulation, and neurohumoral factors), remodeling of cardiac rehabilitation in the reperfusion era, rehabilitation programs for elderly and heart failure patients, and the psychosocial aspect of cardiac rehabilitation.