Reference values for cardiopulmonary exercise testing in children and adolescents in northwest Croatia

The already published reference values for cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) might not be representative for our population. Our aim is to create reference values for CPET in children and adolescents in northwest Croatia. Exercise testing according to modifi ed Bruce treadmill protocol was performed in 164 healthy children aged 11-17 years. Results are presented as mean and standard deviation. Mann-Whitney test was used for continuous variables without normal distribution. Boys reached signifi cantly higher peak oxygen consumption (VO2) at anaerobic threshold (AT) with mean 37.13±8.9 mL/kg/min compared with 31.95±6.6 mL/kg/ min in girls. The same fi nding was recorded for VO2 at peak exercise (peak VO2) where boys reached signifi cantly higher peak VO2 of 51.3±8.9 as compared with 41.49±6.51 mL/kg/min in girls. During incremental work, systolic pressure increased from mean 109.86±14.2 mm Hg to 145.43±11.9 mm Hg, with no signifi cant diff erence between girls and boys. During incremental work, together with linear increase in heart rate and systolic pressure, oxygen pulse that represents cardiac output, showed linear increase with signifi cantly higher values in boys. Compared with girls, boys had signifi cantly higher tidal volume at rest and reached signifi cantly higher peak minute ventilation. This study has comprehensively provided a reference set of data for the most important cardiopulmonary variables in a population of healthy children and adolescents in northwest Croatia. Our fi ndings showed strong correlation with previous reports and gave a basis for further research.