Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Children with Surgically Corrected Congenital Heart Disease: Exercise Testing Profiles and Biventricular Function

This study investigates the factors contributing to reduced cardiorespiratory fitness in children with surgically corrected congenital heart disease (CHD) by utilizing cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) and cardiac imaging. The authors aim to clarify the roles of cardiovascular, ventilatory, and gas exchange abnormalities in exercise limitations, finding that impaired maximal oxygen uptake (V̇O₂max) is significantly associated with early anaerobic threshold, chronotropic incompetence, and subclinical systolic dysfunction. The results suggest that combining imaging with CPET can enhance the understanding of both cardiac and non-cardiac contributors to exercise impairment in this population.