Ventilatory Capacity and Exercise Ventilation in Congenital and Acquired Cardiac Disease.

In some forms of cardiac disease an abnormally high ventilatory response to exercise contributes to the production of disability and impairment of exercise tolerance (Campbell, 1934). In this paper we record the results of a standardized exercise test, relating ventilatory response to the work done, in a series of 163 patients with congenital and acquired cardiac disease. The findings are considered in relation to measurements of ventilatory capacity and to the parameters of circulatory function assessed during routine right and left heart catheterization.