Elective Cardiac Procedure Patients Have Low Preoperative Cardiorespiratory Fitness

Preoperative cardiorespiratory fitness may influence the recovery after cardiac procedure. The aim of this study was to investigate the cardiorespiratory fitness of patients scheduled for elective cardiac procedures, using a six-minute walk test, and compare the results with a population-based sample of Finnish adults. Patients (n=234) awaiting percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary angiography, coronary artery bypass grafting, aortic valve replacement or mitral valve surgery performed the six-minute walk test. VO2 max was calculated based on the walk test. The patients were compared to a population-based sample of 60-69-year-old Finnish adults from the FinFit2017 study. The mean six-minute walk test distances (meters) and VO2 max (ml/kg/min) of the patient groups were: 452 +/- 73 and 24.3 +/- 6.9 (coronary artery bypass grafting), 499 +/- 84 and 27.6 +/- 7.2 (aortic valve replacement), 496 +/- 85 and 27.4 +/- 7.3 (mitral valve surgery), and 519 +/- 90 and 27.3 +/- 6.9 (percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary angiography). The population-based sample had significantly greater walk test distance (623 +/- 81) and VO2 max (31.7 +/- 6.1) than the four patient groups (all p-values<0.001). All patient groups had lower cardiorespiratory fitness than the reference population of 60-69-year-old Finnish adults. Particularly the coronary artery bypass grafting group had a low cardiorespiratory fitness, and therefore might be prone to complications and challenging rehabilitation after the operation.