ZJ Huang
Department of Cardiology, National Heart Centre, Singapore
Publications
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Research Article
External Counterpulsation (ECP) Therapy as an Effective Treatment among Patients with Heart Failure undergoing Cardiac Rehabilitation
Author(s): JS Ho*, FY Chee, ZJ Huang, CH Koh and SY Tan
Background: External counterpulsation (ECP) is a noninvasive procedure using lower limbs pressure cuffs to improve coronary artery blood flow and offload the heart. There is currently no data on the effects of ECP among patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation (CR). This pilot study aims to determine whether ECP improves exercise capacity among patients with heart failure or post acute myocardial infarction undergoing cardiac rehabilitation. Methods: This is a prospective randomised-controlled pilot study of the effect of ECP in patients with mild to moderate heart failure or post-acute myocardial infarction undergoing CR. Eligible patients were randomised at ratio of 1:1 to either combination of CR and ECP or CR only. All subjects received up to 16 sessions of conventional CR. For the combination arm, subjects received up to 16 one-hour s.. Read More»