SynthesisFrontiers in medicine2026
Efficacy of acupuncture combined with exercise rehabilitation on cardiac function in patients with heart failure: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Frontiers in medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
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Abstract
Background: Exercise rehabilitation (ER) is recommended in both national and international guidelines for heart failure (HF). However, patients with severe symptoms may derive limited benefit from ER alone. Acupuncture has shown potential cardioprotective and symptom-relieving effects in some clinical studies, suggesting that acupuncture combined with exercise rehabilitation (ACER) may be a promising adjunctive strategy. This systematic review aimed to compare the efficacy of ACER with that of ER alone in patients with HF. Methods: The Cochrane Library, PubMed, Ovid, Wanfang Medical Database, China Biomedical Literature Service (SinoMed), Weipu Database (VIP), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), http://ClinicalTrials.gov, and the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) were searched from inception to March 2026. This review followed the PRISMA statement and assessed evidence with GRADE. The aim was to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the effects of ACER on cardiac function in patients with HF. Two investigators independently screened studies, extracted relevant data, and assessed the methodological quality using the Risk of Bias version 2 tool (RoB 2). Meta-analyses were performed using RevMan 5.3. The protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD420251184719). Results: Eight RCTs involving 668 patients were included, seven conducted in China and one in Serbia. Compared with ER alone, ACER was associated with statistically significant improvements in left ventricular ejection fraction [LVEFl; Conclusion: The current evidence is insufficient to determine whether ACER provides clinically meaningful benefits over ER alone in patients with HF. Further high-quality RCTs are needed before ACER can be recommended as an evidence-based adjunct in HF rehabilitation. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD420251184719, identifier: CRD420251184719.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.