VO2 Kinetics and Chronotropic Responses After Severe COVID-19

Why do many severe COVID-19 survivors experience exercise intolerance as a lingering consequence of their viral infection? In this episode, Guest Editor Dr. Tiago Peçanha (Manchester Metropolitan University) interviewed lead author Dr. Hamilton Roschel (University of Sao Paulo) and expert Dr. John Durocher (Purdue University Northwest) about the latest study by Longobardi et al., which investigated the impact of previous severe COVID-19 infection on cardiorespiratory responses to a maximal exercise test. The authors enrolled survivors of severe COVID-19 who had previously been admitted to an intensive care unit during the acute phase of their illness in this cross-sectional study within a randomized controlled trial. The authors found that VO2 kinetics were significantly impaired at the onset and recovery phases of the exercise protocol in the COVID survivors. What do these experts think about the central and peripheral factors underlying the exertional intolerance and chronotropic incompetence in COVID survivors? Listen now.

 

Igor Longobardi, Danilo Marcelo Leite do Prado, Karla Fabiana Goessler, Matheus Molina Meletti, Gersiel Nascimento de Oliveira Júnior, Danieli Castro Oliveira de Andrade, Bruno Gualano, Hamilton Roschel Oxygen uptake kinetics and chronotropic responses to exercise are impaired in survivors of severe COVID-19 Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, published September 2, 2022. DOI: 10.1152/ajpheart.00291.2022