Exercise intolerance in post-coronavirus disease 2019 survivors after hospitalisation

RATIONALE: Post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) survivors frequently have dyspnoea that can lead to exercise intolerance and lower quality of life. Despite recent advances, the pathophysiological mechanisms of exercise intolerance in the post-COVID-19 patients remain incompletely characterised. The objectives of the present study were to clarify the mechanisms of exercise intolerance in post-COVID-19 survivors after hospitalisation. METHODS: This prospective study evaluated consecutive patients previously hospitalised due to moderate-to-severe/critical COVID-19. Within mean±sd 90±10 days of onset of acute COVID-19 symptoms, patients underwent a comprehensive cardiopulmonary assessment, including cardiopulmonary exercise testing with earlobe arterialised capillary blood gas analysis. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: 87 patients were evaluated; mean±sd peak oxygen consumption was 19.5±5.0 mL·kg(−1)·min(−1), and the tertiles were ≤17.0, 17.1–22.2 and ≥22.3 mL·kg(−1)·min(−1). Hospitalisation severity was similar among the three groups; however, at the follow-up visit, patients with peak oxygen consumption ≤17.0 mL·kg(−1)·min(−1) reported a greater sensation of dyspnoea, along with indices of impaired pulmonary function, and abnormal ventilatory, gas-exchange and metabolic responses during exercise compared to patients with peak oxygen consumption >17 mL·kg(−1)·min(−1). By multivariate logistic regression analysis (receiver operating characteristic curve analysis) adjusted for age, sex and prior pulmonary embolism, a peak dead space fraction of tidal volume ≥29 and a resting forced vital capacity ≤80% predicted were independent predictors of reduced peak oxygen consumption. CONCLUSIONS: Exercise intolerance in the post-COVID-19 survivors was related to a high dead space fraction of tidal volume at peak exercise and a decreased resting forced vital capacity, suggesting that both pulmonary microcirculation injury and ventilatory impairment could influence aerobic capacity in this patient population.