Assessing Exercise Limitation Using Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing
Figure 1
Interpretation algorithm for cardiopulmonary exercise testing. This figure provides an outline of a CPET interpretation strategy and suggested classification of ventilatory limitation based on previous work [1, 48, 53, 57, 58, 60, 70, 74]. Importantly, the data obtained from a CPET test should not be interpreted in isolation, but rather results should be integrated with other clinical findings/investigations. RER: respiratory exchange ratio, oxygen consumption, HR: heart rate, SpO2: arterial saturation, BR: breathing reserve, CV: cardiovascular, EFL: expiratory flow limitation, : tidal volume, EELV: end-expiratory lung volume, PaCO2: arterial PCO2.
