Cardiopulmonary Resilience in Highly Active Individuals: Pre-Post COVID-19 Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing Analysis.

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Sports Medicine
• Pulmonology

Background:

• COVID-19 can lead to long COVID, with symptoms like fatigue and exercise intolerance.
• Highly active individuals (HAIs) may experience decreased athletic performance post-COVID-19.
• Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) assesses exercise intolerance and COVID-19's physiological effects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate COVID-19's impact on cardiopulmonary function in HAIs.
• To analyze metabolic and ventilatory responses using CPET before and after infection.
• To understand long-term effects of COVID-19 on athletic individuals.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of CPET data from HAIs.
• Primary outcomes: changes in peak oxygen uptake (V·O2peak) and ventilatory efficiency (V·E/V·CO2 slope).
• Statistical significance set at p < 0.05.

Main Results:

• 43 HAIs (72.1% male, 44 ± 10 years) were analyzed.
• V·O2peak decreased by 1.5 mL/kg/min (p=0.017), a 3.84% reduction (p=0.045).
• V·E/V·CO2 slope increased by 1.2 (p=0.017).

Conclusions:

• HAIs show significant cardiopulmonary resilience despite COVID-19 infection.
• Minimal post-infection alterations suggest fitness confers protective benefits.
• Maintaining high physical activity may mitigate long COVID sequelae.