Skeletal Muscles in Acute Heart Failure

The study will include 30 consecutive patients with acute heart failure (AHF). In 20 patients the investigators will perform cardiologic rehabilitation. In the remaining 10 patients only standard pharmacotherapy will be administered. The cardiologic rehabilitation will follow the protocol used routinely in patients with AHF admitted to the Centre for Heart Disease,Military Hospital in Wroclaw. This protocol includes gradually increasing level of physical exercise (e.g.: respiratory exercises, assisted, active dynamic, and relaxation exercises, as well as short-term isometric exercises and general exercises of very low intensity, short duration and properly adjusted recovery phase). The following tests will be conducted on the first and last day of hospitalization and 30 days following the discharge: clinical evaluation (medical interview, routine physical examination, echocardiography, assessment of natriuretic peptides (NT-proBNP), basic laboratory tests with special emphasis on the inflammatory markers and renal and liver parameters); hemodynamic evaluation (i.e. non-invasive evaluation of cardiac output and systemic vascular resistance using of impedance cardiography); evaluation of biomarkers reflecting myocyte-damage (i.e. immunochemical measures of tissue-specific enzymatic isoforms, enabling to distinguish the markers of skeletal muscle damage vs. markers of myocardial injury - e.g. creatine kinase CK, its muscular isozyme CKMM, lactate dehydrogenase 5 LDH5, myoglobin, and carbonic anhydrase III, determined using test based on ELISA). On the first day of hospitalization, as well as on the first, third and last day of rehabilitation (the latter term corresponding to the last day of hospitalization as well) and also 30 days after the discharge, the following tests will be performed (both times: at rest and post-exercise): hemodynamic evaluation, the evaluation of skeletal muscle function (using surface electromyography (sEMG); maximum tonus of the muscles wil