Cited 28 times since 2008 (1.7 per year) source: EuropePMC European journal of cardiovascular prevention and rehabilitation : official journal of the European Society of Cardiology, Working Groups on Epidemiology & Prevention and Cardiac Rehabilitation and Exercise Physiology, Volume 15, Issue 2, 1 1 2008, Pages 140-144 Exercise training increases oxygen uptake efficiency slope in chronic heart failure. Gademan MG, Swenne CA, Verwey HF, van de Vooren H, Haest JC, van Exel HJ, Lucas CM, Cleuren GV, Schalij MJ, van der Wall EE
Background and aim
The oxygen uptake efficiency slope (OUES) is a novel measure of cardiopulmonary reserve. OUES is measured during an exercise test, but it is independent of the maximally achieved exercise intensity. It has a higher prognostic value in chronic heart failure (CHF) than other exercise test-derived variables such as(Equation is included in full-text article.)or(Equation is included in full-text article.)slope. Exercise training improves(Equation is included in full-text article.)and(Equation is included in full-text article.)in CHF patients. We hypothesized that exercise training also improves OUES.
Methods and results
We studied 34 New York Heart Association (NYHA) class II-III CHF patients who constituted an exercise training group T (N=20; 19 men/1 woman; age 60+/-9 years; left ventricular ejection fraction 34+/-5%) and a control group C (N=14; 13 men/one woman; age 63+/-10 years; left ventricular ejection fraction 34+/-7%). A symptom-limited exercise test was performed at baseline and repeated after 4 weeks (C) or after completion of the training program (T). Exercise training increased NYHA class from 2.6 to 2.0 (P<0.05),(Equation is included in full-text article.)by 14% [P(TvsC)<0.01], and OUES by 19% [P(TvsC)<0.01]. Exercise training decreased(Equation is included in full-text article.)by 14% [P(TvsC)<0.05].
Conclusion
Exercise training improved NYHA class,(Equation is included in full-text article.)and also OUES. This finding is of great potential interest as OUES is insensitive for peak load. Follow-up studies are needed to demonstrate whether OUES improvements induced by exercise training are associated with improved prognosis.
