Diseases that affect the heart, lungs, circulation or blood will cause an abnormal response to exercise. Exercise testing is useful to help evaluate the cause of shortness of breath that otherwise cannot be determined at rest (heart vs. lungs). It also may be useful in the diagnosis of the following conditions:
Myocardial Dysfunction
Abnormal blood pressure response to exercise
Poor circulation
Pulmonary Hypertension
Exercise-induced asthma
Unfitness
Hyperventilation syndromes
Muscular weakness
Cardiopulmonary exercise testing is a non-invasive and objective method of evaluating both cardiac and pulmonary function. It allows a very accurate assessment of possible cardiac failure, in a quantified fashion.
