title: Exercise physiology and testing in adult patients with congenital heart disease.
abstract: As the longevity of patients with congenital heart disease improves, the number surviving to adulthood will continue to rise. Consequently, practicing physicians can expect to encounter an increasing number of adult patients with various congenital cardiac conditions. Impaired exercise tolerance in this patient population is exceptionally common; adult patients with congenital heart disease have reduced exercise capacity compared with healthy, age-matched counterparts. The different methods of evaluating exercise capacity, the characteristic physiologic abnormalities encountered in patients with various congenital cardiac conditions, the pathophysiologic mechanisms that may account for these abnormalities, and the clinical implications of these findings are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Boston Adult Congenital Heart and Pulmonary Hypertension Service, Department of Cardiology, Boston Children's Hospital Boston, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Buber
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rhodes
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015308:Anaerobic Threshold / Q000502:physiology; D002319:Cardiovascular System / Q000503:physiopathology; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000379:methods*; D017079:Exercise Tolerance / Q000502:physiology*; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000503:physiopathology; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology; D064797:Physical Conditioning, Human / Q000379:methods / Q000502:physiology; D012137:Respiratory System / Q000503:physiopathology; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Adults; Congenital heart diseases; Exercise physiology; Exercise testing; Exercise training