Abstract
Background: current data on the impact of acute illness severity on exercise capacity and ventilatory efficiency of COVID-19 survivors, evaluated at cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET), are limited.
Methods: in this post-hoc analysis of our previous observational, prospective, cohort study on mechanisms of exercise intolerance in COVID-19 survivors, we aimed at evaluating the impact of acute COVID-19 severity on exercise capacity, pulmonary function testing (PFT) and chest computed tomography (CT) outcomes.
Results: we enrolled 75 patients (18 with mild-to-moderate disease, 18 with severe disease, and 39 with critical disease). Mean (standard deviation – SD) follow-up time was 97 (26) days. Groups showed a similar PFT and CT residual involvement, featuring a mildly reduced exercise capacity with comparable mean (SD) values of peak oxygen consumption as percentage of predicted (83 (17) vs 82 (16) vs 84 (15), p = 0.895) among groups, as well as the median (interquartile range – IQR) alveolar-arterial gradient for O 2 in mmHg at exercise peak (20 (15-28) vs 27 (18-31) vs 26 (21-21), p = 0.154), which was in the limit of normal. In addition, these patients featured a preserved mean ventilatory efficiency evaluated through the slope of the relation between ventilation and carbon dioxide output during exercise (27.1 (2.6) vs 29.8 (3.9) vs 28.3 (2.6), p = 0.028), without a clinically relevant difference.
Conclusions: Disease severity does not impact on exercise capacity in COVID-19 survivors at 3 months after discharge, including a ventilatory response still in the limit of normal.
Keywords: COVID-19; Cardiopulmonary exercise test; Pulmonary function testing.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, Cardiopulmonary exercise test, Pulmonary function testing., 【초록키워드】 severity, Cardiopulmonary, Exercise capacity, Ventilation, oxygen, pulmonary, discharge, cohort study, outcomes, Chest computed tomography, Survivors, Patient, group, mechanism, Critical disease, severe disease, Efficiency, Pulmonary function testing, interquartile range, Standard deviation, post-hoc analysis, mild-to-moderate disease, ventilatory, acute COVID-19, follow-up time, acute illness, survivor, limit, enrolled, predicted, addition, clinically, evaluated, reduced, comparable, groups, IQR, preserved, the median, 【제목키워드】 Exercise capacity, survivor,