Published online Dec 20, 2025. doi: 10.5493/wjem.v15.i4.110904
Revised: July 15, 2025
Accepted: October 22, 2025
Published online: December 20, 2025
Processing time: 184 Days and 12.5 Hours
The six-minute walk test (6MWT) allows to determine, in addition to the main parameters, the time of heart rate recovery (THRR), cardiac function, adaptation index (AI), which characterize the compensatory reserve of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). At the same time, the significance of these parameters in patients taking beta-blockers for CHF is insufficiently studied, taking into account the negative chronotropic effect of drugs. In this regard, it is relevant to identify factors that can characterize the compensatory capabilities of a patient with CHF during 6MWT, not related to the calculation of heart rate.
To identify hemodynamic indicators of the adaptive capabilities of patients with CHF during paired 6MWT depending on their intake of beta-blockers.
Seventy-four patients with compensated CHF due to coronary
There were no significant associations between adaptation characteristics and DECG parameters or functional class (FC) of CHF in patients of the main group. In the comparison group, the indicators of compensatory reserve were significantly and directly associated with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and inversely with FC CHF and cardiac cavity size. In both groups, a greater difference in systolic blood pressure between the end of the first and the beginning of the second 6MWT was significantly associated with a higher index of right ventricular systolic dysfunction (Tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion) and LVEF, as well as a smaller left ventricular size and mass, and a lower pulmonary artery systolic pressure in patients in the main group.
Systolic BPV, measured immediately after 6MWT and 20 minutes after its completion, can indirectly characterize the compensatory reserve in patients with CHF, regardless of their beta-blocker intake.
Core Tip: Analysis of hemodynamics was conducted during six-minute walk test (6MWT) of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). In patients who were taking beta-blockers, assessment of the compensatory reserve using routine methods was not significantly correlated with the severity of CHF. It was found that the assessment of short-term systolic blood pressure variability (BPV), measured immediately after 6MWT and 20 minutes after its completion, can characterize the compensatory reserve in CHF, regardless of whether they are taking beta blockers. Monitoring BPV during routine 6MWT might help doctors personalize recommendations for patients with CHF who are taking beta blockers.
