Persistent Exertional Intolerance After COVID-19: Insights From Invasive Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing.
Chest
; 161(1): 54-63, 2022 01.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1598167
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Some patients with COVID-19 who have recovered from the acute infection after experiencing only mild symptoms continue to exhibit persistent exertional limitation that often is unexplained by conventional investigative studies. RESEARCH QUESTION What is the pathophysiologic mechanism of exercise intolerance that underlies the post-COVID-19 long-haul syndrome in patients without cardiopulmonary disease? STUDY DESIGN ANDMETHODS:
This study examined the systemic and pulmonary hemodynamics, ventilation, and gas exchange in 10 patients who recovered from COVID-19 and were without cardiopulmonary disease during invasive cardiopulmonary exercise testing (iCPET) and compared the results with those from 10 age- and sex-matched control participants. These data then were used to define potential reasons for exertional limitation in the cohort of patients who had recovered from COVID-19.RESULTS:
The patients who had recovered from COVID-19 exhibited markedly reduced peak exercise aerobic capacity (oxygen consumption [VO2]) compared with control participants (70 ± 11% predicted vs 131 ± 45% predicted; P < .0001). This reduction in peak VO2 was associated with impaired systemic oxygen extraction (ie, narrow arterial-mixed venous oxygen content difference to arterial oxygen content ratio) compared with control participants (0.49 ± 0.1 vs 0.78 ± 0.1; P < .0001), despite a preserved peak cardiac index (7.8 ± 3.1 L/min vs 8.4±2.3 L/min; P > .05). Additionally, patients who had recovered from COVID-19 demonstrated greater ventilatory inefficiency (ie, abnormal ventilatory efficiency [VE/VCO2] slope 35 ± 5 vs 27 ± 5; P = .01) compared with control participants without an increase in dead space ventilation.INTERPRETATION:
Patients who have recovered from COVID-19 without cardiopulmonary disease demonstrate a marked reduction in peak VO2 from a peripheral rather than a central cardiac limit, along with an exaggerated hyperventilatory response during exercise.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Exercise Tolerance
/
Exercise Test
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Journal:
Chest
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
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