The Spirografic Oxygen Deficit: Its Role in Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing

Abstract

The increase in oxygen uptake > 100 ml · min^-1 during steady state exercise when elevating the inspired fractional air content (F_inO₂) from 0.21–1.00 defines the “spirografic oxygen deficit” (SOD). The purpose of this study was 2-fold: 1) determine the SOD at different exercise intensities in healthy participants and 2) investigate if a correlation exists among key variables of cardiopulmonary exercise testing. 12 men (24±2 yrs; 183±4 cm; 83.5±5.3 kg) performed cycle tests to determine maximal power output (P_max), the power output at the first (PVT₁) and the second ventilatory threshold (PVT₂), at 4 mmol · l^-1 blood lactate (P₄) and lactate threshold (PLT). When cycling at 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80% Pmax, the F_inO₂ was increased from 0.21–1.00 after 5 min to assess the power output at the SOD and at which blood lactate increased > 1 mmol∙L^-1 (P_LLAC). The SOD occurred at 70% Pmax accompanied by increased blood lactate concentration (p<0.01). The P_SOD correlated with P_LACC (p=0.05; r=0.61), but not with PVT₁, PVT₂, P₄, or P_LT (best p=0.29; highest r=0.39). In conclusion, the SOD may represent a non-invasive tool for evaluating submaximal endurance performance, especially when evaluating the peripheral contribution to performance.

Key words

endurance - hyperoxia - lactate threshold - oxygen uptake - ventilatory threshold

• References

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