Investigation of dyspnea using cardiopulmonary exercise test among patients resorting to the respiratory tests

Abstract

Exertional dyspnea is a common complaint among patients which may be the final result of many diseases. Few researches have been conducted concerning the role of cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) in assessing unexplained dyspnea. Therefore, the aim of this study was a research on unexplained dyspnea using CPET among patients resorting to respiratory test unit of hospitals. This is a cross-sectional study that performed on 100 patients. With the direct supervision of experts, CPET was conducted using ergaspirometery device. The exercise data was interpreted by a pulmonologist and the results were classified into pulmonary diseases, cardiovascular diseases, obesity, deconditioning, and undetermined groups. 100 patients including 57 men and 43 women with an average age of 42 years and an average BMI of 28 and smoking frequency of 12% took part in this research. The following frequencies were reported for each complication: 24% for pulmonary diseases, 23% for cardiovascular diseases, 23% for deconditioning group, 15% for obesity, and 16% for the undetermined group. No significant difference was observed between these five groups in terms of gender distribution and smoking cigarette (P-value>0.05). In the age group older than 42 years, more patients were diagnosed with cardiac diseases and obesity. CPET may be really useful in determining the cause of unexplained dyspnea among most patients. Furthermore, the CPET can determine the presence or absence of disease, and if present, the nature of the limitation.