Background: Pulmonary capillary stress failure is potentially involved in exercise-induced hypoxemia (ie, a significant fall in hemoglobin oxygen saturation [Spo]) during sea level exercise in endurance-trained athletes. It is unknown whether there are specific properties of pulmonary vascular function in athletes exhibiting oxygen desaturation.
Methods: Ten endurance-trained athletes with exercise-induced hypoxemia (EIH), nine endurance-trained athletes with no exercise-induced hypoxemia (NEIH), and 10 untrained control subjects underwent an incremental exercise stress echocardiography coupled with lung diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide (Dlco) and lung diffusion capacity for nitric oxide (Dlno) testing.
Purpose: There has been suggestion that a greater "pulmonary vascular reserve" defined by a low pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) and a high lung diffusing capacity (DL) allow for a superior aerobic exercise capacity. How pulmonary vascular reserve might affect exercise capacity at moderate altitude is not known.
Methods: Thirty-eight healthy subjects underwent an exercise stress echocardiography of the pulmonary circulation, combined with measurements of DL for nitric oxide (NO) and carbon monoxide (CO) and a cardiopulmonary exercise test at sea level and at an altitude of 2250 m.