Changes in exercise capacity in subjects with cardiac asymptomatic hereditary hemochromatosis during a follow-up after 5 yrs.

Objective: A long-term effect of hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) on aerobic exercise capacity (AEC) has not been well described.

Design: Forty-three HH and 21 volunteer control subjects who were asymptomatic underwent cardiopulmonary exercise testing using the Bruce protocol. AEC was assessed with minute ventilation (V(E)), oxygen uptake (V(O)(2)), and carbon dioxide production (V(CO)(2)) at baseline and at a follow-up assessment after 5 yrs. A paired t test was used for analyses of normality data; otherwise, Wilcoxon's signed rank-sum test was used.

Results: Thirty-three HH subjects and 18 volunteer control subjects returned for a repeat cardiopulmonary exercise testing at the fifth-year follow-up (80% overall return rate). At the fifth-year follow-up, AEC was not different between the two groups. Compared with baseline measurements, exercise time, peak V(O)(2), and the V(E)/V(CO)(2) slope did not differ statistically at the fifth-year follow-up between both groups. Iron depletion through phlebotomy for 5 yrs did not significantly affect AEC in newly diagnosed HH subjects at baseline (n = 14) and cardiac arrhythmias during exercise tended to decrease after 5 yrs of therapy in this group.

Conclusions: The AEC of asymptomatic HH subjects treated using conventional therapy is not statistically affected by the disease during a 5-yr period.