Anaerobic threshold levels in the assessment of central and peripheral hemodynamics

: A treadmill test involving a noninvasive evaluation of cardiac pump function and the anaerobic threshold (AT) was performed to examine 110 patients with cardiac malformations, 31 with atherosclerotic lesions in arteries of the lower limbs, and 49 normal subjects. The results were compared with those of direct measurement of blood lactate concentrations. Simultaneously, changes in transcutaneous O2 tension (TcpO2) were recorded in the recovery periods after each exercise stage, recovery of continuous blood flow (td). TcpO2 and td were indicated to reflect AT resulted just from decompensation of cardiac pump function in patients with impaired central hemodynamics. It was ascertained that TcpO2 and td might be objective measures for severity of central or peripheral hemodynamic abnormalities and reflected the levels of AT at systemic, organic, and microcirculatory levels.