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Pre-surgery exercise program aims to boost heart fitness in adults born with heart defects

NCT ID NCT07700459

Disease control Sponsor: Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Source: ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

What the study statuses mean

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Recruitment status, easiest to join first

Recruiting now
This trial is taking on new participants right now.
Not yet recruiting This study
Registered, but not yet taking participants.
By invitation only
Not open to general applications. Only people the study team invites can take part.
Paused
Paused for now. It may or may not start again.
Ongoing
Running, but no longer taking on new participants.
Completed
The trial has finished. Results may not be published yet.
Stopped early
Stopped early, before it reached the end. That can be for many reasons, including safety.
Cancelled
Cancelled before anyone took part.

Expanded access (not trials)

Expanded access
Not a trial. This treatment can be requested outside a study, case by case, for people who qualify.
Expanded access (paused)
Not a trial. The treatment can normally be requested outside a study, but is unavailable right now.
Expanded access (ended)
Not a trial. The treatment could once be requested outside a study, but no longer can.
Approved
The treatment has been approved, so it is available normally rather than through this programme.

When the status isn't known

Details not published
The full record has not been published yet, so there is little to show here.
Status unknown
This status has not been confirmed recently, so it may be out of date.

First seen Jul 14, 2026 · Last updated Jul 23, 2026 · Updated 3 times

Summary

This trial tests whether a personalized exercise program before heart surgery can improve physical fitness in adults with congenital heart disease. Participants are randomly assigned to either usual care or a 6-week prehabilitation plan with aerobic, breathing, and strength exercises. The study measures changes in peak oxygen uptake during a cardiopulmonary exercise test to see if the program helps patients get fitter before their operation.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance
a tailored prehabilitation program including aerobic, respiratory, and resistance exercises
What this could lead to
If it works, this could show that a short exercise program before surgery helps adults with congenital heart disease recover better and improve their fitness.
What could go wrong
This is a small early-stage trial with only 32 participants, so results may not apply to everyone. The exercise program may not improve fitness enough to make a difference in surgical outcomes.

This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.

Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Phase

Not a phased trial

Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.

Participants

About 32 people

The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.

Expected to start

Aug 2026

An estimate. Start dates often move.

Expected to finish

Jun 2029

An estimate. End dates often move.

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Ages

18 years and older

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Not accepted

This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Adults with congenital heart disease requiring cardiac surgery via sternotomy or thoracotomy. * Capacity to provide informed consent. * Ability and willingness to engage in exercise-based interventions. * Peak VO2 \<30ml/kg/min at preoperative exercise assessment. * Participant reached peak VO2 in preoperative exercise assessment (RER \>1.0). * Ability to communicate in English. Exclusion Criteria: * Surgery is scheduled for a date that precludes participation in the programme - surgical date is \<9 weeks away. * Pregnancy of \<6 months postpartum. * History of pneumothorax within the last 3 months. * Resting oxygen saturations \<94%. * Uncorrected right-to-left shunt with exercise. * Fontan physiology. * Pulmonary hypertension. * Critical valvular obstruction. * Sustained ventricular arrhythmia. * Severe aortic dilatation (\>45mm in Marfan syndrome or hereditary aortopathy, \>50mm in bicuspid or tricuspid aortic valves). The oldest person operated upon by the ACHD service was 78 years old. Upper age is not an exclusion criteria.

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Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

congenital heart disease

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

Cardiac surgery Congenital heart disease

How to take part

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  1. The official record

    ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.

    Open the record ↗

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