The association between O₂-pulse slope ratio and functional severity of coronary stenosis: A combined cardiopulmonary...

The role of cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) parameters in evaluating the functional severity of coronary disease remains unclear. The aim of this study was to quantify the O₂-pulse morphology and investigate its relevance in predicting the functional severity of coronary stenosis, using Murray law-based quantitative flow ratio (μQFR) as the reference.

CPET and μQFR were analyzed in 138 patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD). The O₂-pulse morphology was quantified through calculating the O₂-pulse slope ratio. The presence of O₂-pulse plateau was defined according to the best cutoff value of O₂-pulse slope ratio for predicting μQFR ≤ 0.8.

The optimal cutoff value of O₂-pulse slope ratio for predicting μQFR ≤ 0.8 was 0.4, with area under the curve (AUC) of 0.632 (95 % CI: 0.505-0.759, p = 0.032). The total discordance rate between O₂-pulse slope ratio and μQFR was 27.5 %, with 13 patients (9.4 %) being classified as mismatch (O₂-pulse slope ratio > 0.4 and μQFR ≤ 0.8) and 25 patients being classified as reverse-mismatch (O₂-pulse slope ratio ≤ 0.4 and μQFR > 0.8). Angiography-derived microvascular resistance was independently associated with mismatch (OR 0.07; 95 % CI: 0.01-0.38, p = 0.002) and reverse-mismatch (OR 9.76; 95 % CI: 1.47-64.82, p = 0.018).

Our findings demonstrate the potential of the CPET-derived O₂-pulse slope ratio for assessing myocardial ischemia in stable CAD patients.