Cardiopulmonary exercise testing in children with cystic fibrosis: one centre's experience

Background: While exercise testing is increasingly used as a prognostic indicator in cystic fibrosis (CF), it is reported to be underused in UK CF centres, particularly in children. Here, we evaluated the cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) results in children and young people with CF at CF annual review and its possible clinical value.\ud \ud Method: An observational study comparing CPET results using a cycle ergometer ramp test (peak oxygen uptake (Vo2peak)) and pulmonary function (forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1)) was performed with body mass index (BMI) used as a disease severity marker. Data were identified from clinical case notes and our CF database.\ud \ud Results: Thirty-eight children and young people (mean age 11±2.4, range 7–14 years; 17 males and 21 females) completed at least one CPET with 95% achieving technically satisfactory tests allowing measurement of Vo2peak. Mean Vo2peak was 107 ±17.6% predicted, range 74%–150% predicted, with 8% having a reduced Vo2peak of