[Use of the six-minute walk test in cardiology]

The symptom-limited exercise test is nowadays the gold standard to assess the exercise tolerance and the effects of different treatments in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). A simpler alternative to this test is the 6-minute walk test. The 6-minute walk test is easy to realize and well-tolerated. Moreover, it is reliable just after one familiarization practice and requires standardization. Indeed, its conduction, which is submitted to some security precautions, can be altered by variation factors. The distance walked during the 6 minutes was the only parameter studied during the test. This parameter could allow judging the CHF severity and prognostic. The analyse of cardiorespiratory parameters has shown that the 6-minute walk test relative intensity is near to the peak individual values. Moreover, the cardiac and ventilatory adaptation of patient during this test depends to his own functional capacity. Lastly, the 6-minute walk test is a submaximal constant-load exercise, which should be performed in complement to the symptom-limited exercise test in cardiac patients.