Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing in Aortic Stenosis.

CONCLUSIONS: In this group of patients, where clinical assessment is difficult and conventional exercise testing is regarded as less useful, CPX showed high feasibility and reproducibility. CPX therefore has potential as a useful tool for serial monitoring. In general, the stroke volume increased during exercise, including in patients with severe aortic stenosis or decreased resting stroke volume. CPX gives information on hemodynamics and the physiologic components that determine decreased pVO2. CPX seems useful to identify 1) patients with a low risk of cardiac death and low risk of progression to symptoms from the aortic stenosis, and 2) patients with hemodynamic compromise who improve in functional capacity after AVR. Patients with a preoperative mean gradient <40 mm Hg across the aortic valve, with the presence of atrial fibrillation or who have a permanent pacemaker, postoperatively seem to benefit less from AVR, whereas the benefit seems larger in those with more severe aortic stenosis and a decreased pO2pulse. These findings may be of importance for decisions and information of patients before AVR. PMID: 28552098 [PubMed - in process]
Source: Danish Medical Journal - Category: General Medicine Tags: Dan Med J Source Type: research