Journal of Clinical Medicine Review Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation: The New Challenges of Cardiac Rehabilitation Simona Sperlongano 1,* , Francesca Renon 1 , Maurizio Cappelli Bigazzi 1, Rossella Sperlongano 2, Giovanni Cimmino 1 , Antonello D’Andrea 3 and Paolo Golino 1 1 Department of Translational Medical Sciences, Division of Cardiology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Monaldi Hospital, 80131 Naples, Italy;
[email protected] (F.R.);
[email protected] (M.C.B.);
[email protected] (G.C.);
[email protected] (P.G.) 2 Department of Experimental Sciences, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, 80138 Naples, Italy;
[email protected] 3 Department of Cardiology and Intensive Coronary Care, Umberto I Hospital, 84014 Nocera Inferiore, Italy;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +39-0817065185 or +39-0817064149 Abstract: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is an increasingly widespread percutaneous intervention of aortic valve replacement (AVR). The target population for TAVI is mainly composed of elderly, frail patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS), multiple comorbidities, and high perioper- ative mortality risk for surgical AVR (sAVR). These vulnerable patients could benefit from cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs after percutaneous intervention. To date, no major guidelines currently recommend CR after TAVI. However, emerging scientific evidence shows that CR in patients un- dergoing TAVI is safe, and improves exercise tolerance and quality of life. Moreover, preliminary data prove that a CR program after TAVI has the potential to reduce mortality during follow-up, Citation: Sperlongano, S.; Renon, F.; even if randomized clinical trials are needed for confirmation. The present review article provides an Bigazzi, M.C.; Sperlongano, R.; overview of all scientific evidence concerning the potential beneficial effects of CR after TAVI, and Cimmino, G.; D’Andrea, A.; Golino, P.