International Journal of General Medicine (Jul 2024)
Post-Myocardial Infarction Rehabilitation: The Absence in the Rehabilitation Process of the Diaphragm Muscle
Abstract
Bruno Bordoni,1 Luca Mapelli,1 Anastasia Toccafondi,1 Francesca Di Salvo,1 Gianmarco Cannadoro,1 Matteo Gonella,1 Allan R Escher,2 Nuccia Morici1 1Dipartimento di Cardiologia, Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi IRCCS, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura, S Maria Nascente, Milano, 20100, Italy; 2Department of Anesthesiology/Pain Medicine, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, FL, 33612, USACorrespondence: Bruno Bordoni, Email [email protected]: Myocardial infarction (MI) is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. There can be many reasons that cause MI, such as a sedentary lifestyle, a disordered diet, harmful habits such as smoking and alcoholism, concomitant congenital or acquired systemic pathologies. Patients who survive the acute event suffer a functional alteration of multiple body systems. The various cardiology associations recommend starting a rehabilitation process, pursuing the main objective of improving the patient’s health status. A negative consequence that can be linked to MI is the dysfunction of the main breathing muscle, the diaphragm. The diaphragm is essential not only for respiratory mechanisms but also for adequate production of cardiac pressures. Post-MI patients present a reduction in the performance of the diaphragm muscle, and this condition can become a risk factor for further relapses or for the onset of heart failure. The article reviews the rehabilitation path for post-MI patients, to highlight the absence given to the diaphragm in the recovery of the patient’s health status. The text reviews the post-MI diaphragmatic adaptation to highlight the importance of including targeted training for the diaphragm muscle in the rehabilitation process.Keywords: myocardial infarction, diaphragm, cardiovascular disease, breathing, physiotherapy, cardiac rehabilitation
