Evaluation of noninvasive exercise cardiac output determination in chronic heart failure patients: a proposal of a new diagnostic and prognostic method.

Peak oxygen consumption (VO2) and various parameters of cardiopulmonary response to exercise are of important prognostic value in chronic heart failure patients. However, all the available parameters only indirectly reflect left-ventricular dysfunction and hemodynamic adaptation to an increased demand. Noninvasive assessment of cardiac output, especially during an incremental exercise test, would allow the direct measurement of cardiac reserve and may become the gold standard for prognostic evaluation of chronic heart failure patients.