Ergometer 800s

Symptom‐limited cardiopulmonary exercise test (Vmax Encore 29 System; VIASYS Healthcare Inc., Palm Springs, CA, USA) was performed on a cycle ergometer by all patients (Ergometer 800S; Sensor Medics, Yorba Linda, CA, USA), using a progressive protocol with workload increments of 5 or 10 W/min. Ventilation (VE), oxygen consumption (VO₂), and carbon dioxide output (VCO₂) were acquired on a breath‐by‐breath basis and expressed as 30 s averages. The patients were initially monitored for 2 min at rest when seated on the ergometer, and after that, they were instructed to pedal at a pace of 60–70 rpm, and the completion of the test occurred when, despite verbal encouragement, the patient reached maximal volitional fatigue. Respiratory exchange ratio higher than 1.10 was reached by 82% of the patients. Heart rate was monitored continuously at rest, during the test and recovery phase, using a 12‐lead digital electrocardiogram (Cardio Soft 6.51 ECG/CAM‐14, GE Medical Systems Information Technologies, Wisconsin, WI, USA).

All patients underwent symptom-limited cardiopulmonary exercise test (Vmax Encore
29 System; VIASYS Healthcare Inc., Palm Springs, California, USA) performed on a
cycle ergometer (Ergometer 800S; SensorMedics, Yorba Linda, California, USA),
using a ramp protocol with workload increments of 5 or 10 Watts per minute.
Oxygen consumption (VO₂) and carbon dioxide output (VCO₂)
were measured by means of gas exchange on a breath-by-breath basis and expressed
as 30-s averages. The patients were initially monitored for 2 minutes at rest
when seated on the ergometer; then they were instructed to pedal at a pace of
60-70 rpm and the completion of the test occurred when, in spite of verbal
encouragement, the patient reached maximal volitional fatigue. A respiratory
exchange ratio (RER) higher than 1.10 was reached for all patients. Heart rate
(HR) was monitored continuously at rest, during the test and recovery phase,
using a 12-lead digital electrocardiogram (CardioSoft 6.51 ECG/CAM-14, GE
Medical Systems Information Technologies, Wisconsin, USA).^{17 (link)}After achieving peak workload, the patients continued to pedal at 10 watts for 2
minutes, followed by 4 minutes seated on the ergometer, this 6-min period was
considered the recovery phase. Delta (∆) HRR was calculated by subtracting the
HR values at 1^st (∆HRR1) and 2^nd (∆HRR2) minutes of the
recovery phase from the peak HR.^{12 (link)}