Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET)

• To understand the cause of unexplained shortness of breath
• Assess a patient's exercise capability
• As a part of a pre-operative assessment to assess the patient's risk for a surgical procedure
• Check the severity of a patient’s respiratory disease
• Determine the effect of heart or lung disease during exercise
• Discover a patients response to treatments
• To assess if treatments such as heart transplants should be considered to help with congestive heart failure
• Sometimes CPET testing is done as part of a research study

Your specialist will discuss the reasons a CPET test may be beneficial for you beforehand and allow you to answer any questions you may have before arranging the test.

• Patients who have musculoskeletal problems that prevent them from being able to pedal a stationary bike
• Patients who have an acute medical illness or poorly controlled chronic medical conditions
• Patients who have recently had a heart attack within 30 days
• Patients who have severely low oxygen levels 
• Patients who have severely high blood pressure
• Patients who have an uncontrolled heart rhythm or heart rate problems

Please notify your consultant or the hospital if there have been any recent changes to your health such as acute infection or injury which may prevent exercising.

• Wear comfortable clothing that you feel comfortable exercising in
• Do not exercise on the day of the test
• Only eat a light meal on the day of the test (do not consume food for 3-4 hours before the test)
• Try to avoid drinking caffeine on the day of your test
• Avoid smoking or vaping on the day of the test

It is also recommended that you should bring a list of your medications to the appointment. It is usually fine to take all your normal medications on the day of the test but if you use an inhaler you may be asked to stop using this on the day. You specialist will let you know in advance what you should do.

Your Physiologist will give instructions on which exercises to perform. They will not ask you to do anything too difficult and you can raise any concerns with them as you go along. The first two to three minutes will be used to collect data before you start the test and are at rest.

You will be asked to pedal the bike for a two to three minute warm-up. After the warm-up, the pedalling resistance will increase with the goal of the exercise becoming increasingly harder. During this test, you will be asked to stop when you get to a point where you do not feel you can continue.

Your Physiologist may talk to you during the test to encourage you. The whole exercise period should only last around eight to 12 minutes. The test will be over when you are no longer able to continue. After the test has finished, you may be asked to cycle slowly to cool down.

Afterwards, you will be asked to sit down and have drink of water while your Physiologist removes any sensors or equipment from your body. You may also be monitored for a short period after exercising.

Individuals with conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease can travel safely onboard an aircraft. It is however essential to have all medications such as inhalers in cabin baggage. It is important to discuss your travel plans with your physician who is familiar with your medical history, to accurately assess your case. If you as the passenger can walk 50 meters at a normal pace or climb a flight of stairs without significant breathlessness, you are unlikely to need oxygen on a flight.

However, if your specialist recommends that you may need to take oxygen on the plane with you it is important that you notify the airline well in advance with a MEDIF form to ensure that this service can be provided. Some airlines do charge for this service so please do check with your specific airline for further information.

• Flexible appointment times to fit your schedule
• The freedom to choose which consultant is right for you
• Bespoke, consultant-led treatment plans tailored to your individual needs
• Support from the same compassionate clinical team 
• Affordable, fixed-price packages
• Flexible payment options to help spread the cost of your care

If you want to know more about CPET testing and find out if it's the right treatment for you, book your appointment online today or call a member of our team directly.