Attenuation of Hypercapnic Carbon Dioxide Chemosensitivity After Postinfarction Exercise Training: Possible Contribution to the Improvement in Exercise Hyperventilation

Objective: To elucidate the responsible mechanisms of increased slope of minute ventilation relative to carbon dioxide production (VE/VCO(2)) during exercise after acute myocardial infarction without overt signs of heart failure, patients who had an acute myocardial infarction were examined after participating in a three month supervised exercise training programme.

Design: Exercise testing, hypercapnic CO(2) chemosensitivity measurement (rebreathing method), and pulmonary function test were repeated at entry and after three months in 50 acute myocardial infarction patients with neither symptoms nor signs of heart failure who completed the training programme. Ten patients who performed initial inhospital training served as controls.

Results: Age, peak oxygen uptake, left ventricular ejection fraction, CO(2) chemosensitivity, respiratory parameters (percentage of predicted normal vital capacity (%VC), forced expiratory volume in one second, and carbon monoxide transfer factor (%TLCO)) were all significantly correlated with VE/VCO(2) slope. Multivariate regression analysis showed that age (beta = 0.29, p = 0.01), %TLCO (beta = -0.27, p = 0.01), and CO(2) chemosensitivity (beta = 0.49, p < 0.001) were independent determinants of VE/VCO(2) slope. After three months, there was no significant change in these parameters in the control group. Peak oxygen uptake, %TLCO, and %VC and attenuation in CO(2) chemosensitivity increased significantly in the training group. The VE/VCO(2) slope decreased marginally (p = 0.11). The changes in VE/VCO(2) slope were correlated only with those in CO(2) chemosensitivity (r = 0.50, p < 0.001).

Conclusion: After acute myocardial infarction, exercise hyperventilation is seen in association with aging, enhanced hypercapnic CO(2) chemosensitivity, and reduced TLCO, even in the absence of overt heart failure. The correlation of VE/VCO(2) attenuation after training with the reduction in CO(2) chemosensitivity suggests that exercise training may reduce increased VE/VCO(2) slope, at least partially by reducing CO(2) chemosensitivity.