Cardiopulmonary exercise testing following COVID-19 infection

Summary

We wish to invite individuals to undertake cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) to provide insight into the integrity of the pulmonary-vascular interface and characterise any impairment or abnormal cardiorespiratory function following infection from COVID-19.  A proportion of BioResource patients are being co-recruited into the national PHOSP-COVID study. Combined these allow for rich phenotyping of a cohort of individuals who are recovering from COVID disease.  CPET is a well-validated test that provides an objective assessment of cardiorespiratory response to incremental exercise, which allows clinicians to determine cardiorespiratory fitness and identify reasons for physical impairment. Many patients admitted to hospital with severe acute respiratory syndrome experience significant exercise limitation in the months following hospital discharge. In these patients, CPET has been used to characterise the physiological mechanisms underlying their exercise limitation. It is hypothesised that CPET may provide similar insights into the mechanisms underlying persisting functional limitation following COVID-19 infection, provide diagnostic and prognostic indicators and potentially help guide the development support strategies for those with long-term disability and to assess the efficacy of developed interventions. Each recruited patient will perform a single exercise test on a cycle ergometer following a ramp protocol designed to last around 8-10 minutes in duration. A blood test will be performed at the end of the test (ammonia, lactate,CK).