Fb 300

Symptom-limited CPET was performed on an electromagnetically braked upright cycle ergometer (Corival, Load, Holland) with a metabolic gas analyzer (AE-300S; Minato Medical Science, Osaka, Japan). After 4 min of rest on the cycle ergometer, exercise commenced at 20 watt for a 4 min-warm up; then, the work rate was increased by 1 watt every 6 s. During CPET, blood pressure was measured by an automatic, indirect cuff manometer (FB-300; Fukuda Denshi, Tokyo, Japan) every min. HR and electrocardiography (ECG) were monitored using an exercise electrocardiogram (ML-9000; Fukuda Denshi, Tokyo, Japan). The criteria for discontinuation of CPET were (i) if pedal rotations were delayed; (ii) if the patient reached maximum symptom-limited performance determined by a Borg score of ≥17; (iii) when 85% of age-predicated maximal HR was achieved; or (iv) if there was evidence of ST-T changes in ECG or if any cardiac event, such as arrhythmia or chest pain, occurred. Expired gases were continuously measured in all subjects on a breath-by-breath basis. The anaerobic threshold (AT) was determined by gas-exchange criteria as the point of nonlinear increase in ventilation equivalents for oxygen.

Symptom-limited CPET was performed on an electromagnetically braked upright cycle ergometer (Corival, Load, Holland) with a metabolic gas analyzer (AE-300S, Minato Medical Science, Osaka, Japan). After 4 min of rest on the cycle ergometer, exercise was commenced at 20 W for a 4-min warm-up, and then the work rate was increased by 1-W every 6 s. During CPET, blood pressure was measured by an automatic indirect cuff manometer (FB-300, Fukuda Denshi, Tokyo, Japan) every min. HR and electrocardiography (ECG) were monitored using an exercise electrocardiogram (ML-9000, Fukuda Denshi, Tokyo, Japan) [15] (link). The criteria for discontinuation of CPET were (i) if pedal rotations were delayed, (ii) if the patient reached maximum symptom-limited performance determined by a Borg score of ≥ 17, (iii) when 85% of age-predicted maximal HR (APMHR) was achieved, (iv) if there was evidence of ST-T changes in ECG, or if any cardiac event such as arrhythmia or chest pain occurred. Expired gases were measured continuously in all subjects on a breath-by-breath basis. The anaerobic threshold (AT) was determined by gas exchange criteria as the point of nonlinear increase in ventilation equivalents for oxygen. The mean VO₂ and HR at warm-up (Wu; 3–4 min after exercise commenced), at AT, at the respiratory compensation point (Rc), and at the exercise peak (Pk) were all measured and recorded.