Related Experiment Videos
Relationship between right ventricular ejection fraction and maximum exercise oxygen consumption: a methodological
Marcus Hacker1, Stefan Störk, Diana Stratakis
1Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Munich, Germany. marcus.hacker@nuk.med.uni-muenchen.de
Summary
In chronic heart failure patients, right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF) measured at rest does not correlate with peak oxygen consumption (peak VO(2)) during exercise. Exercise capacity changes are not reliably reflected by resting RVEF.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Exercise Physiology
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Peak oxygen consumption (peak VO(2)) is a key survival predictor in chronic heart failure (CHF).
- Resting right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF) has been suggested to correlate with peak VO(2).
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the association between peak VO(2) and RVEF using various radionuclide ventriculography (RNV) techniques in CHF patients.
- To evaluate the consistency of this association across different RNV methods.
Main Methods:
- Prospective cohort study of 58 CHF patients.
- Symptom-limited bicycle ergometry to determine peak VO(2).
- RVEF measured using first-pass (FP) RNV (single and dual region of interest) and planar multigated acquisition (MUGA).
Main Results:
- No significant correlation was found between RVEF and peak VO(2) regardless of the RNV technique used (r values ranging from 0.06 to 0.16).
- Resting RVEF did not predict peak VO(2) or changes in peak VO(2) over 6-12 months of follow-up.
Conclusions:
- There is no association between peak VO(2) and resting RVEF in CHF patients when assessed by different RNV techniques.
- Resting RVEF is not a reliable indicator of exercise capacity or its changes in CHF.