Issue 24-5, 2025

Review

https://doi.org/10.38025/2078-1962-2025-24-5-84-93

Enhanced External Counterpulsation in Patients with Coronary Heart Disease. Outlook for Use in Medical Rehabilitation: a Review

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ORCID Ekaterina S. Levitskaya *, ORCID Svetlana V. Orlova , ORCID Mikhail M. Batiushin , ORCID Alisa M. Kushnareva

Rostov State Medical University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia


ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION.  Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a common socially significant disease, limiting the the patients’ ability to function in their usual environment. Methods of medical rehabilitation are necessary and relevant for use in such patients. The main means of MR for patients with CHD is, of course, dosed physical activity. However, identifying new possibilities of MR and clarifying the mechanisms of action on the body is an urgent task of modern medicine.

AIM.  To determine current data allowing us to judge the effectiveness of using EECP in medical rehabilitation of patients with CHD.

MATERIALS AND METHODS.  A search of Russian and foreign scientific literature was conducted in the following citation databases: eLIBRARY.RU, PubMed, GoogleScholar, Scopus. Request dates: December 2024 – February 2025, query depth — 2014–2025.

MAIN CONTENT OF THE REVIEW.  The article presents data indicating the effectiveness of enhanced external counterpulsation (EECP) in patients with coronary artery disease. The main mechanisms of EECP impact on the cardiovascular system are presented, which include a decrease in the severity of ischemia, an increase in collateral blood flow, and an improvement in endothelial function. It is obvious that the implementation of these processes allows not only to improve the quality of life of patients with coronary artery disease, but also to improve the cardiovascular prognosis. In this regard, the use of EECP in cardiac rehabilitation of patients with coronary artery disease will achieve highly effective results.

CONCLUSION.  EECP has a number of advantages over other methods of medical rehabilitation used for patients with coronary artery disease — it can be used for any form of myocardial ischemia, at any stage of medical rehabilitation, it is a non-invasive and labor-intensive procedure. The use of EECP together with traditional forms of physical exercise can boost the positive effect in the form of improved quality of life and prognosis of cardiovascular complications.


KEYWORDS: enhanced external counterpulsation, myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, medical rehabilitation, endothelial dysfunction

FOR CITATION:

Levitskaya E.S., Orlova S.V., Batiushin M.M., Kushnareva A.M. Enhanced External Counterpulsation in Patients with Coronary Heart Disease. Outlook for Use in Medical Rehabilitation: a Review. Bulletin of Rehabilitation Medicine. 2025; 24(4):32–43 https://doi.org/10.38025/2078-1962-2025-24-5-84-93 (In Russ.). 

FOR CORRESPONDENCE:

Ekaterina S. Levitskaya, Е-mail: es.med@mail.ru


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