title: Cyanotic congenital heart disease: dynamics of oxygen uptake and ventilation during exercise.
abstract: The presence of intracardiac shunts dissociates the right and left circulations, making dynamic coupling of cellular and pulmonary gas exchange inefficient or impossible. As a result, patients may have profound changes in arterial blood gases and prolongation of adaptation and recovery even with low levels of physical activity. Because the exercise-induced symptoms in patients with cyanotic congenital heart disease have bases apart from heart failure, assignment of a New York Heart Association functional class may be misleading if not erroneous. Dr. Jane Somerville recommends the "Ability Index" shown in Table 1.
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Sietsema
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology; D011659:Pulmonary Gas Exchange / Q000502:physiology*