Feasibility of Hybrid Telerehabilitation and Its Impact on Quality of Life in Patients with Heart Failure and Implanted Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD)

(1) Left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation is increasingly used as a treatment option for patients with advanced heart failure (HF). There is a need to provide patients with LVAD with long-term care, preferably at home. The implementation of home-based telerehabilitation (HTR) and telecare offers new opportunities in this field. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility and safety of HTR and telecare in HF patients with implanted LVAD and evaluate patients’ acceptance of and adherence to HTR. (2) The study enrolled 30 HF patients with recently implanted LVAD (21 Heart Mate III, 9 Heart Ware) (29 males, mean 59 years) who underwent a 12-week telecare and HTR program based on walking, respiratory, and resistance training, five times weekly. HTR was telemonitored with a device adjusted to register electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings and to transmit data via a mobile phone network to the monitoring center. The moments of automatic ECG registration were pre-set and coordinated with exercise. The influence on physical capacity was assessed by comparing changes in peak oxygen consumption (pVO2; [mL/kg/min]) and workload duration (t; [s]) during the cardiopulmonary exercise test. (3) HTR resulted in a significant physical capacity improvement in pVO2 12.5 ± 2.9 vs. 15.1 ± 3.0 (p < 0.001), and workload duration t 628 ± 204 vs. 728 ± 222 (p < 0.001) during the cardiopulmonary exercise test. There were neither deaths nor adverse events during HTR. Patients accepted HTR, including the need for interactive everyday collaboration with the medical team. All patients completed HTR. (4) HTR is a feasible and safe form of rehabilitation that is well-accepted by patients. The adherence to HTCR was high.