Excess Ventilation in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease–Heart Failure Overlap. Implications for Dyspnea and Exercise Intolerance

Abstract

Heightened neural drive promoting a ventilatory response beyond that required to overcome an increased "wasted" ventilation led to hypocapnia and poor exercise ventilatory efficiency in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease-heart failure overlap. Excessive ventilation led to better arterial oxygenation but at the expense of earlier critical mechanical constraints and intolerable dyspnea.