Cardiopulmonary exercise testing in small abdominal aortic aneurysm: profile, safety, and mortality estimates

Abstract

Patients with AAA have a slightly higher incidence of hyper- and hypotensive responses to exercise than age-matched referrals, but no serious events related to CPX occurred. AAA patients can undergo maximal CPX safely and have risk scores based on treadmill test results that are similar to age-matched referral subjects. These findings extend recent studies using sub-maximal evaluations to stratify risk in patients considered for surgery, and support the routine use of exercise testing for risk evaluation and the functional assessment of patients with AAA.