Cardiopulmonary exercise testing and impedance cardiography in the assessment of exercise capacity of patients with coronary artery disease early after myocardial revascularization.

Background: Patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) are characterized by different levels of physical capacity, which depends not only on the anatomical advancement of atherosclerosis, but also on the individual cardiovascular hemodynamic response to exercise. The aim of this study was evaluating the relationship between parameters of exercise capacity assessed via cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) and impedance cardiography (ICG) hemodynamics in patients with CAD.

Methods: Exercise capacity was assessed in 54 patients with CAD (41 men, aged 59.