Peripheral muscle ergoreceptors and ventilatory response during exercise recovery in heart failure

Recent studies have suggested that the increased ventilatory response durin g exercise in patients with chronic heart failure was related to the activa tion of muscle metaboreceptors. To address this issue, 23 patients with hea rt failure and 7 normal subjects performed arm and leg bicycle exercises wi th and without cuff inflation around the arms or the thighs during recovery . Obstruction slightly reduced ventilation and gas exchange variables at re covery but did not change the kinetics of recovery of these parameters comp ared with nonobstructed recovery: half-time of ventilation recovery was 175 +/- 54 to 176 +/- 40 s in patients and 155 +/- 66 to 127 +/- 13 s in contr ols (P < 0.05, patients vs. controls, not significant within each group fro m baseline to obstructed recovery). We conclude that muscle metaboreceptor activation does not seem to play a role in the exertion hyperventilation of patients with heart failure.