Introduction:

There are still few studies that recommend patients with atrial fibrillation in cardiovascular rehabilitation programs.

Objective:

To evaluate the effects of physical training in patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing cardiovascular rehabilitation.

Method:

A pre-experimental, prospective, pretest-posttest study was carried out with 18 patients with atrial fibrillation who attended cardiac rehabilitation sessions for 12 weeks. The patient was evaluated at the beginning and end of the program with stress test with expired gases, blood test and transthoracic echocardiogram.

Results:

The male sex (72.2%), the diagnosis of cardiomyopathies (33.3%), arterial hypertension (100%) and longterm persistent atrial fibrillation (55.6%) predominated. A statistically significant difference was found for each morphofunctional variable: body mass index (28.0±5.0 vs. 26.9±4.4, p<0.0001), peak oxygen consumption (13.6±3.0 vs. 15.3±2.9, p<0.0001), oxygen at the anaerobic threshold (9.9±2.2 vs. 10.7±2.0; p=0.007), ventilatory equivalent for carbon dioxide (27.7±4.7 vs. 26.6±4.7; p<0.0001), ventilatory equivalent for oxygen (24.2± 5.0 vs. 23.8±4.9 p=0.001), oxygen pulse (10.2±2.5 vs. 12.1±2.1; p<0.0001), metabolic units (3.8±0.9 vs. 4.3±0.9; p<0.0001) and fraction of left ventricular ejection (55.7±8.7 vs. 58.2±7.5, p=0.003). The metabolic variables decreased significantly (p<0.0001). Weber’s functional class improved in 5 patients (27.8%).

Conclusions:

Physical training of patients with atrial fibrillation during 12 weeks of cardiovascular rehabilitation improved functional capacity, with progressive increases in left ventricular ejection fraction and decrease in metabolic variables, without generating risks or complications.