Table 1 Participants characteristics after randomly assigned to intervention group and control group
| Â | intervention group | control group | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|
Patients, n | 16 | 23 | Â |
Age, years | 48.88 ± 18.25 | 53.65 ± 12.79 | NS |
Female sex, % (n) | 43.8 (7) | 56.5 (13) | NS |
Height, cm | 170.62 ± 7.82 | 164.99 ± 8.89 | NS |
Weight, kg | 75.29 ± 19.1 | 75.43 ± 15.71 | NS |
Body Mass Index, kg/m2 | 25.79 ± 5.78 | 27.8 ± 6.04 | NS |
PAH etiology | |||
 Idiopathic, % (n) | 37.5 (6) | 52.2 (12) | NS |
 Connective tissue diseases, % (n) | 6.3 (1) | 13 (3) | |
 Congenital heart disease, % (n) | 50 (8) | 30.4 (7) | |
 Heritable, % (n) | 6.3 (1) | 4.4 (1) | |
WHO-FC | |||
 II, % (n) | 50 (8) | 61 (14) | NS |
 III, % (n) | 50 (8) | 39 (9) | |
Co-morbidities | |||
 Hypertension, % (n) | 31.3 (5) | 34.8 (8) | NS |
 Diabetes mellitus, % (n) | 6.3 (1) | 13 (3) | NS |
 Hyperlipidemia, % (n) | 25 (4) | 26.1 (6) | NS |
 Atrial fibrillation, % (n) | 18.8 (3) | 17.4 (4) | NS |
PAH - specific therapy | |||
 PDE5i, % (n) | 50 (8) | 30.4 (7) | NS |
 ERA, % (n) | 18.8 (3) | 4.4 (1) | |
 Prostanoid, % (n) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |
 PDE5i + ERA, % (n) | 31.3 (5) | 43.5 (10) | |
 PDE5i + Prostanoid, % (n) | 0 (0) | 17.4 (4) | |
 PDE5i + ERA + CCB, % (n) | 0 (0) | 4.4 (1) | |
Functional parameters | |||
 PImax, cmH2O | 45.31 ± 23.82 | 52.61 ± 18.55 | NS |
 PEmax, cmH2O | 70.94 ± 32.75 | 79.52 ± 33.05 | NS |
 Dominant hand grip strength, kg | 37.67 ± 12.32 | 35.96 ± 15.22 | NS |
 Non-dominant hand grip strength, kg | 36.2 ± 14.35 | 35.14 ± 14.71 | NS |
 6MWD, m | 436.81 ± 81.69 | 444.83 ± 87.98 | NS |
 METs | 4.77 ± 1.38 | 3.95 ± 1.05 | NS |
 WorkLoad in AT, W | 108.29 ± 51.99 | 97 ± 36.42 | NS |
 WorkLoad max, W | 181.64 ± 80.41 | 149.23 ± 61.97 | NS |
 HR max | 134.21 ± 26.73 | 133.54 ± 19.84 | NS |
 Peak VO2 in AT, ml/kg/min | 11.74 ± 4.46 | 10.53 ± 3.91 | NS |
 Peak VO2, ml/kg/min | 16.66 ± 4.78 | 14.14 ± 4.22 | NS |
 VCO2 | 1.24 ± 0.45 | 1.11 ± 0.47 | NS |
 VE, l/min | 52.84 ± 14.58 | 48.21 ± 17.71 | NS |
 VE/VO2 slope | 47.64 ± 17.74 | 41.96 ± 10.58 | NS |
 VE/VCO2 slope | 44.45 ± 14.51 | 43.11 ± 11.88 | NS |
Echocardiography | |||
 RV basal diameter, cm | 4.51 ± 0.68 | 4.25 ± 0.72 | NS |
 RAA, cm2 | 24.11 ± 9.43 | 23.84 ± 7.48 | NS |
 TAPSE, mm | 17.47 ± 2.8 | 20.62 ± 4.27 | 0.012 |
 IVC diameter, mm | 16.75 ± 3.19 | 17.42 ± 3.56 | NS |
Hemodynamics (RHC) | |||
 mPAP, mmHG | 47.23 ± 14.86 | 45.84 ± 16.22 | NS |
 PAWP, mmHG | 11.08 ± 2.47 | 10.11 ± 2.53 | NS |
 CO, l/min | 4.95 ± 1.15 | 5.1 ± 1.18 | NS |
 CI, l/min/m2 | 2.67 ± 0.6 | 2.76 ± 0.58 | NS |
 PVR, Wood Units | 7.55 ± 3.81 | 7.61 ± 4.49 | NS |
Laboratory tests | |||
 NT-proBNP, pg/ml | 190.83 ± 279.39 | 424.57 ± 412.23 | 0.048 |
 Creatinine, mg/dl | 0.95 ± 0.23 | 0.94 ± 0.16 | NS |
Body Mass Composition | |||
 Percentage of Body Fat, % | 31.32 ± 9.08 | 32.33 ± 10.56 | NS |
 Waist-Hip Ratio (WHR) | 0.96 ± 0.12 | 0.93 ± 0.1 | NS |
 Skeletal Muscle Mass, kg | 27.54 ± 6.43 | 27.01 ± 6 | NS |
 Body Fat Mass, kg | 24.54 ± 11.17 | 24.3 ± 10.03 | NS |
 Arm Circumference | 32.28 ± 5.47 | 32.1 ± 4.3 | NS |
 Arm Muscle Circumference | 25.29 ± 4.11 | 25.76 ± 2.98 | NS |
SF-36 | |||
 Physical Component Summary | 40.11 ± 11.35 | 41.33 ± 8.45 | NS |
 Mental Component Summary | 47.55 ± 13.33 | 46.3 ± 9.55 | NS |
Fatigue Severity Scale | 4.08 ± 1.6 | 4.03 ± 1.75 | NS |