Baseline characteristics of study population
| Age (yr) | 55 ± 10 |
| Diagnosis | |
| Coronary artery disease (n) | 26 |
| Dilated cardiomyopathy (n) | 16 |
| Valvular heart disease (n) | 3 |
| NYHA class | 2.1 ± 0.4 |
| Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg) | 117 ± 15 |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mm Hg) | 67 ± 10 |
| Heart rate (beats per min) | 70 ± 12 |
| Ejection fraction (%) | 28 ± 7 |
| Exercise time (s) | 992 ± 262 |
| Peak VO2 (ml/kg/min) | 21.3 ± 4.8 |
| Creatinine (μmol/l) | 102 ± 18 |
| Potassium (mmol/l) | 3.8 ± 0.4 |
| ANP (pg/ml) | 170 ± 143 |
| BNP (pg/ml) | 188 ± 239 |
| Norepinephrine (nmol/l) | 3.7 ± 1.6 |
Values are numbers or means ± S.D.