Lung mechanics and gas exchange during exercise in pulmonary sarcoidosis.

To clarify how lung function at exercise is affected in sarcoidosis, and to analyze how exercise studies compare to testing measurements, 63 patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis were examined with lung mechanics and arterial blood gases during exercise. These findings were compared with simultaneously obtained, but previously reported results of the static lung pressure/volume curve and the lung resistance/static lung pressure curve. While mechanical variables at maximal exercise were as sensitive as those determined by measuring the PstL/V and RL/PstL curves, mechanics during spontaneous breathing at rest was less sensitive. The derangement of mechanics was more evident than that of arterial blood gases. No measurement at rest was a good predictor of working capacity or of arterial PaO2. A comprehensive exercise examination may be an alternative to resting investigations, which are either more elaborate or less sensitive.