Hemodynamic Responses to Exercise in Children with Cyanotic Forms of Heart Disease

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (BP), maximal workload (Wmax), and peak working capacity index (PWCI) values obtained in response to a continuous, graded, maximal exercise test in patients with tetralogy of Fallot (ToF), tricuspid atresia (TA), and complete transposition of the great arteries (TGA). These data were compared to those obtained in a control group of 405 healthy children [1, 2] covarying for the effects of age, race, sex, and body surface area. The ToF group contained a large number of patients who had undergone intracardiac surgical repair. Surgical variables and exercise variables were compared to assess whether there were any significant correlations between these data sets.