Effect of cardiac, pulmonary, and vascular disease on one-minute oxygen uptake

A simplified method for estimation of one-minute oxygen uptake (VO2-1) during treadmill grade walking at vertical power requirements of 250, 750, and 1,000 kg-meters/min was devised, where power=weight (kg) X grade (fractional) X walking speed. All subjects were men. There were 29 controls, 34 subjects with coronary arterial disease (of whom 18 had had myocardial infarction), nine subjects with diffuse pulmonary disease, and four subjects with ischemic vascular disease. Abnormally reduced values for VO2-1 were related to these diseases and, more specifically, to a history of myocardial infarction and (in pulmonary subjects) to reduced single-breath diffusing capacity. Lowest values of VO2-1 for a group were found in ischemic vascular disease. Reduced response of VO2-1 may therefore be caused by central defects of oxygen transport.