Serial Exercise Testing in Patients with Congenital Heart Disease

Abstract

Cardiovascular function is an important determinant of exercise function. Formal exercise testing can therefore provide clinically useful, quantitative and objective insights into a patient’s cardiovascular status. Serial exercise studies evaluate the progress of an individual patient’s exercise function over a period of time and provide clinicians with a unique perspective upon the natural history of congenital heart disease. They can also provide quantitative, objective data regarding the functional impact of various clinical interventions and often shed light on important physiologic processes that otherwise might not be appreciated.