Ventricular performance during exercise in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Abstract

We assessed ventricular performance during exercise in 16 COPD patients and 8 normal control subjects by means of radionuclide equilibrium angiography using technetium-99m as a tracer. Supine exercise on a bicycle ergometer was performed until symptom-limited exhaustion. Data were accumulated for 300 heart beats at rest and 150 heart beats during exercise. We used the standard voxel count method to calculate the ventricular volumes. Age, FEV1.0%, %VC, PaO2 and PaCO2 of the COPD patients were 63 +/- 8 yr, 46 +/- 11%, 69 +/- 18%, 68 +/- 11 Torr and 44 +/- 7 Torr (mean +/- SD), respectively. Systolic dysfunction of both the left and right ventricles was well confirmed in the present study. In 12 patients who also underwent hemodynamic studies, resting total pulmonary vascular resistance index (TPVRI) and mean pulmonary artery pressure (Ppa) significantly correlated with right ventricular end-systolic volume index (RVESVI) obtained by RI angiography; gamma = 0.769 (p less than 0.01) and gamma = 0.631 (p less than 0.05), respectively. A significant relationship was also observed between left ventricular dysfunction and the degree of hypercapnia. In response to exercise testing, 10 of 16 patients exhibited insufficient augmentation of stroke volume, and both left and right end-diastolic volumes decreased in half of 10 patients. It is suggested that cardiac function may be disturbed by mechanical factors such as pulmonary hyperinflation in COPD patients.