[The integrative cardiorespiratory exercise test: 2. Response to maximal exercise in heart and lung diseases]

Physiological measurements during integrative cardiorespiratory progressive exercise in different cardiovascular and respiratory disorders help discern and describe the characteristic exercise response patterns of different disorders. Cardiovascular limitation to exercise is characterized by reduced maximal exercise capacity and reduced anaerobic threshold and oxygen utilization. On the other hand, respiratory limitation of exercise is characterized by reduced breathing reserve with high ventilatory equivalents for a given metabolic load but with a normal cardiovascular response. Combined cardiovascular and respiratory disorders demonstrate both cardiovascular and respiratory types of limitation of exercise. We present 2 patients with cardiovascular disorders, 2 with respiratory, and 2 with combined cardiovascular and respiratory disorders. The interpretation of the physiological data of the progressive cardiorespiratory exercise test increased the accuracy of clinical evaluation and treatment. We therefore think the test will gain wide use in the clinical evaluation of patients with cardiovascular and respiratory disorders.