Non-invasive Ventilation in Patients With Cardiac Heart Failure

Patients with heart failure (HF) have a reduced exercise tolerance as the main result of the disease. This exercise intolerance is due to heart conditions, but also to dysfunction of the respiratory and peripheral muscles. Various factors such as chronic hypoxia, oxidative stress, nutritional depletion, peripheral muscle disuse, effects of medications, and sympathetic-vagal imbalance are major contributors to deconditioning. In this scenario, the use of non-invasive ventilatory support (NIV) arises as an adjunct to cardiac rehabilitation in the attempt to improve the functional capacity of patients, since NIV reduces work of breathing, improves oxygenation and increases lung compliance associated with improved ejection volume, due to increased intrathoracic pressure.