BACKGROUND Children stable at home with dilated cardiomyopathy remain at risk of death; there is evidence of survival benefit for transplantation out to 4 years postoperatively. The limited supply of donor organs makes risk stratification imperative, but although cardiopulmonary exercise test is well established as a powerful tool in adults with heart failure, no published studies have linked o...

Abbreviations TIVA, Total intravenous anesthesia; TCI, target-controlled infusion; BIS, Bispectral Index; EDM, Esophageal ultrasonography monitoring; TBRI, Theodor Bilharz Research Institute; ASA, American society of anesthesiologists; MBP, mean blood p HR, heart rate; BMI, body mass index; Ce, effect site concentration; TOF, train of four; Ftc, flow time corrected; PV, peak velocity; SD distan...

BACKGROUND Exercise capacity assessed by cardiopulmonary exercise testing is usually measured by peak oxygen consumption (VO2). However, not uncommonly, patients achieve a relatively higher work load (peak work) compared to their peak VO2. In these situations it is difficult to know which parameter to use in assessing exercise capacity. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there a...

OBJECTIVES To compare the heart rate responses of women orienteers of different standards and to assess any relation between heart rate responses and age. METHODS Eighteen competitive women orienteers completed the study. They were divided into two groups: eight national standard orienteers (ages 23-67 years); 10 club standard orienteers (ages 24-67 years). Each participant had her heart rate...

BACKGROUND The ability of older persons to function independently is dependent largely on the maintenance of sufficient aerobic capacity and strength to perform daily activities. Although peak aerobic capacity is widely recognized to decline with age, its rate of decline has been estimated primarily from cross-sectional studies that may provide misleading, overly optimistic estimates of aging c...

It is still unclear whether the low-frequency oscillation in heart rate is generated by an endogenous neural oscillator or by a baroreflex resonance. Our aim was to investigate this issue by analyzing blood pressure and heart rate variability and the baroreflex function in paraplegic subjects with spinal cord injury below the fourth thoracic vertebra. These subjects were selected because they r...

BACKGROUND Although some patients with adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) report limitations in exercise capacity, we hypothesized that depressed exercise capacity may be more widespread than superficially evident during clinical consultation and could be a means of assessing risk. METHODS AND RESULTS Cardiopulmonary exercise testing was performed in 335 consecutive ACHD patients (age, 33+...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether there is a relation between impairment of lung diffusion and reduced exercise capacity in chronic heart failure. DESIGN 40 patients with heart failure in stable clinical condition and 40 controls participated in the study. All subjects underwent standard pulmonary function tests plus measurements of resting lung diffusion (carbon monoxide transfer, TLCO), pulmon...