People with kidney failure receiving chronic hemodialysis (HD) suffer from post-HD treatment fatigue, poor functional status and high rates of cardiac failure and death. Previous work has shown that these outcomes are correlated with recurrent ischemic cardiac injury (myocardial stunning) that occurs during HD treatments. Myocardial stunning, identified by regional cardiac wall motion abnormalities (RWMA), is common during HD. Intradialytic cycling (during HD) decreases HD-induced stunning, and may improve adverse outcomes associated with stunning. We will use echocardiography (echo) to understand the effects of intradialytic aerobic exercise on myocardial stunning and HD-related symptoms.
The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of a 12-week cycling during hemodialysis program on hemodialysis-induced myocardial stunning in adult individuals receiving hemodialysis.