Evaluation of aerobic fitness, exercise tolerance, and symptom onset/severity
RPE, dyspnea, Dyspnea, W.
CUFF
Subjects arrived in a 2-h fasted state. Following the evaluation of symptoms, subjects were then outfitted with a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) (GE Healthcare, Chicago, IL) and forehead pulse oximeter (Masimo, Irvine, CA) to allow for continuous monitoring of heart rhythms and heart rate and peripheral oxygen saturation. The symptom-limited maximal exercise test was performed on a cycle ergometer (Corvial Lode B.V., the Netherlands). Exercise protocol was a 2-min warm up at 12 W, 3 min at the matched workload of 25 W, and then wattage increased every 2 min by 25 W. The test was continued until the subject’s symptoms worsened forcing them to terminate exercise or exhaustion was reached. Cuff auscultation midway through each exercise stage by the same technician assessed blood pressure. Respiratory gas exchange including oxygen uptake (VOIn addition to rating perceived exertion (RPE) using the Borg Perceived Exertion Scale and dyspnea using the Modified Borg Dyspnea Scale [