Takahashi Yusuke, Miyamoto Daido, Hasegawa Kakeru, Suzuki Tomohito, Watanabe Hiroyuki
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Akita University Hospital, Akita, JPN.
Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Akita University Graduate School of Medicine, Akita, JPN.
Cureus. 2024 Oct 30;16(10):e72732. doi: 10.7759/cureus.72732. eCollection 2024 Oct.
Waon therapy (WT), which in Japanese means soothing warmth, is a repeated sauna therapy that improves cardiac and vascular endothelial function in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). However, lower-leg baths can be easily performed anywhere. Here, we report a case in which leg baths were used to alleviate the symptoms of heart failure and enable the introduction of exercise therapy. A woman in her 70s with collagenous pulmonary arterial hypertension (class Ⅲ) associated with scleroderma was on home oxygen therapy; however, she experienced difficulty in performing active exercise therapy owing to shortness of breath on exertion and hypotension. As an alternative to WT, three sessions of lower-leg bathing at 42°C were performed weekly for three weeks. After lower-leg bathing, the patient's peripheral blood flow improved, and her clinical symptoms were alleviated; as such, exercise therapy could be introduced. However, tricuspid regurgitation pressure gradient and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide returned to pre-intervention levels nine months after discharge. Although lower-leg bathing can temporarily alleviate the patient's symptoms, its effect is not long-lasting. Although lower-leg bathing has no long-term effects, it may be a treatment option for severe pulmonary hypertension (PH) when exercise therapy is difficult to introduce.
温浴疗法（WT）在日语中意为舒缓的温热，是一种反复进行的桑拿疗法，可改善慢性心力衰竭（CHF）患者的心脏和血管内皮功能。然而，小腿浴在任何地方都很容易进行。在此，我们报告一例使用小腿浴缓解心力衰竭症状并得以引入运动疗法的病例。一名70多岁患有与硬皮病相关的胶原性肺动脉高压（Ⅲ级）的女性正在接受家庭氧疗；然而，由于运动时气短和低血压，她在进行主动运动疗法时遇到困难。作为温浴疗法的替代方法，每周进行三次42°C的小腿浴，持续三周。小腿浴后，患者的外周血流得到改善，临床症状得到缓解；因此，可以引入运动疗法。然而，出院九个月后，三尖瓣反流压力梯度和N末端B型利钠肽前体恢复到干预前水平。虽然小腿浴可以暂时缓解患者的症状，但其效果并不持久。虽然小腿浴没有长期效果，但在难以引入运动疗法时，它可能是重度肺动脉高压（PH）的一种治疗选择。
