Discussion
obesity, weight loss, LVH
OBESITY, LVH
The main finding of the current study is that cardiac function as measured with echocardiography in patients with obesity did not improve one-year after a novel state of the art CR program (OPTICARE XL CR) as compared to standard CR.Although there was a significant and promising reduction in weight and thereby BMI in both groups at one-year follow-up, this reduction was relatively small and does not meet the definition of clinically significant weight loss [The current study is the first in which echocardiographic parameters of cardiac function were investigated in patients with obesity who participated in standard CR or in a CR program specifically designed for patients with obesity. However, a few small studies have been performed in patients with obesity in which the impact of There are several studies in which echocardiographic parameters of LV function, such as GLS, were assessed in patients who participated in standard CR. However, the focus of none of the studies was on patients with obesity. First, Malfatto et al. [Finally, both groups showed a mild but non-significant decrease of LVH after rehabilitation. Nevertheless, the proportion of patients with LVH was significantly more decreased in the OPTICARE XL CR group. This finding suggests that the more intensive program of the OPTICARE XL CR may have a positive contribution to the reduction of LVH. However, more research is needed to conform this.