Abstract
Introduction: In pulmonary hypertension (PH), cardiac dysfunction and gas exchange abnormalities within the lung may both delay the rate of recovery in O2-uptake (V'O2) and CO2-release (V'CO2) after a cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET).
Aim: Determine the correlation between recovery rates of V'O2,V'CO2 after CPET with pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) and right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF).
Method: In this retrospective study measurements on 12 PH-patients were used. 1-4 CPETs and heart catheterisations (for PVR measurement) per patient were done. Sometimes also a cardiac MRI was performed, rendering RVEF.
Results: Changes in V'O2,V'CO2 strongly correlated with PVR and RVEF.
Conclusion: In PH-patients, slow recovery-rates of VO2 and VCO2 are associated with a high PVR and low RVEF.
- © 2012 ERS