Mark A. Faghy , Caroline Dalton , Rae Duncan , Ross Arena , Ruth E.M. Ashton
{"title":"Using cardiorespiratory fitness assessment to identify pathophysiology in long COVID – Best practice approaches","authors":"Mark A. Faghy , Caroline Dalton , Rae Duncan , Ross Arena , Ruth E.M. Ashton","doi":"10.1016/j.pcad.2024.02.005","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Cardio-respiratory fitness (CRF) is well-established in the clinical domains as an integrative measure of the body's physiological capability and capacity to transport and utilise oxygen during controlled bouts of physical exertion. Long COVID is associated with >200 different symptoms and is estimated to affect ∼150 million people worldwide. The most widely reported impact is reduced quality of life and functional status due to highly sensitive and cyclical symptoms that manifest and are augmented following exposure to physical, emotional, orthostatic, and cognitive stimuli, more commonly known as post-exertional symptom exacerbation (PESE) which prevents millions from engaging in routine daily activities. The use of cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is commonplace in the assessment of integrated physiology; CPET will undoubtedly play an integral role in furthering the pathophysiology and mechanistic knowledge that will inform bespoke Long COVID treatment and management strategies. An inherent risk of previous attempts to utilise CPET protocols in patients with chronic disease is that these are compounded by PESE and have induced a worsening of symptoms for patients that can last for days or weeks. To do this effectively and to meet the global need, the complex multi-system pathophysiology of Long COVID must be considered to ensure the design and implementation of research that is both safe for participants and capable of advancing mechanistic understanding.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":21156,"journal":{"name":"Progress in cardiovascular diseases","volume":"83 ","pages":"Pages 55-61"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033062024000276/pdfft?md5=74aca22fa7eb13d208218ec701c09296&pid=1-s2.0-S0033062024000276-main.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Progress in cardiovascular diseases","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033062024000276","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"CARDIAC & CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEMS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Cardio-respiratory fitness (CRF) is well-established in the clinical domains as an integrative measure of the body's physiological capability and capacity to transport and utilise oxygen during controlled bouts of physical exertion. Long COVID is associated with >200 different symptoms and is estimated to affect ∼150 million people worldwide. The most widely reported impact is reduced quality of life and functional status due to highly sensitive and cyclical symptoms that manifest and are augmented following exposure to physical, emotional, orthostatic, and cognitive stimuli, more commonly known as post-exertional symptom exacerbation (PESE) which prevents millions from engaging in routine daily activities. The use of cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is commonplace in the assessment of integrated physiology; CPET will undoubtedly play an integral role in furthering the pathophysiology and mechanistic knowledge that will inform bespoke Long COVID treatment and management strategies. An inherent risk of previous attempts to utilise CPET protocols in patients with chronic disease is that these are compounded by PESE and have induced a worsening of symptoms for patients that can last for days or weeks. To do this effectively and to meet the global need, the complex multi-system pathophysiology of Long COVID must be considered to ensure the design and implementation of research that is both safe for participants and capable of advancing mechanistic understanding.
期刊介绍:
Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases provides comprehensive coverage of a single topic related to heart and circulatory disorders in each issue. Some issues include special articles, definitive reviews that capture the state of the art in the management of particular clinical problems in cardiology.