Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is associated with exercise intolerance. This can impact the patient's quality of life.
Manifestations:
(1) dyspnea
(2) fatigue
Risk factors for exercise intolerance:
(1) severity of PAH
(2) deconditioning
(3) heart failure
(4) right ventricular dysfunction
(5) arterial oxygen desaturation
(6) anemia (often iron deficiency)
Changes seen on exercise testing:
(1) reduced peak oxygen uptake
(2) early anaerobic threshold
(3) reduction in peak exercise work rate
(4) reduction in heart rate reserve
(5) ventilatory inefficiency (increaed VE to VCO2 ratio)
