Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine (Apr 2024)

Clinical application of virtual reality in patients with cardiovascular disease: state of the art

  • Valentina Micheluzzi,
  • Valentina Micheluzzi,
  • Eliano Pio Navarese,
  • Eliano Pio Navarese,
  • Pierluigi Merella,
  • Pierluigi Merella,
  • Giuseppe Talanas,
  • Graziana Viola,
  • Stefano Bandino,
  • Chiara Idini,
  • Francesco Burrai,
  • Gavino Casu,
  • Gavino Casu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fcvm.2024.1356361
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11

Abstract

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Virtual reality offers a multisensory experience to patients, allowing them to hear, watch, and interact in a virtual environment. Immersive virtual reality is particularly suitable for the purpose of completely isolating patients from the external environment to transport them away from the suffering related to the disease. On this state of the art, we summarize the available literature on the effectiveness of virtual reality on various physical and psychological outcomes in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Virtual reality has been employed in the cardiovascular field in various settings such as cardiac rehabilitation, interventional cardiology, and cardiac surgery. This technology offers promising opportunities to improve several outcomes related to cardiovascular disease, but further research is needed to entirely capture its benefits and to standardize the intervention.

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