Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the longitudinal follow-up of exercise performance in patients with native Ebstein anomaly and patients who had received previous tricuspid valve surgery.
Patients and methods: We identified 59 patients with Ebstein anomaly who had performed at least two cardiopulmonary exercise tests within a minimum of 6months. 22 patients (15 female, 29.0±13.4years) with native conditions, 37 patients (21 female, 32.1±15.3years) had undergone surgery of their tricuspid valve before baseline testing.
Results: In the non-operated group peak workload (2.58±0.7 to 2.38±0.7W/kg, p=.019) declined during a mean follow-up of 4.6±2.6years, whereas peak workload remained stable in the surgical group (2.02±0.6 to 2.06±0.7W/kg, p=.229) throughout the follow-up of 3.4±2.3years. In the 18 patients who had their surgery less than one year prior to the first CPET the exercise performance even increased during the follow-up. Peak blood pressure as a marker of cardiac adaption to exercise increased in the follow-up examination only in the surgical group (159±23 vs. 171±30mmHg, p=.007). In the non-operated group blood pressure remained unchanged at follow-up (161±26 vs. 166±29, p=.358).
Conclusion: Exercise performance deteriorates in non-operated patients with Ebstein anomaly in contrast to patients after tricuspid valve surgery where exercise performance remains stable. These facts promote a surgical intervention latest at the time when exercise performance decreases.
Keywords: Ebstein anomaly; Exercise capacity; Longitudinal follow-up.
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