Why CPET Matters
Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) provides an integrative assessment of cardiovascular, pulmonary, and metabolic responses to exercise. It is the gold standard for evaluating exercise intolerance and is increasingly used in surgical risk stratification.
Key Parameters
- Peak VO₂ — aerobic capacity and prognosis
- AT (anaerobic threshold) — exercise tolerance without lactate accumulation
- VE/VCO₂ slope — ventilatory efficiency, key in heart failure
- PETCO₂ — cardiac output surrogate
- O₂ pulse — stroke volume correlate
- Exercise oscillatory ventilation (EOV)
A normal peak VO₂ with an abnormal VE/VCO₂ slope often reveals the diagnosis that resting tests miss.
— Dr. Alex Rivera, AEM Fellow