Geert Kleinnibbelink

Exercise-Induced Cardiac Function under Hypoxia 2 57 RV wall stress under hypoxia versus normoxia. When considering these indirect indices, some studies have demonstrated value of PAT during stress to estimate PAP in PAH patients whilst others have questioned the outside of the normal heart rate range ( < 60 or > 100 bpm). 24, 26 It is clear that a more robust assessment of PAP would provide added support to the well-established physiological concepts and understanding of hypoxia and pulmonary haemodynamics. Previous studies have applied strain-area loops to PAH patients and demonstrated an association between PVR and the late diastolic uncoupling and the Sslope during rest only. 28 Further work should aim to validate the strain-area loops during stress. Finally, for technical reasons we only evaluated right heart function and haemodynamics during low-to-moderate stress echocardiography rather than during the high-intensity running exercise. CONCLUSION There was no impact of hypoxia on the magnitude of EICF in the RV and LV after a bout of 45-minute high-intensity exercise. This finding suggests that any potential increase in loading conditions does not automatically exacerbate EICF in this setting.