Impaired Tissue Oxygen Delivery in Patients With Coexistent COPD-heart Failure: Neuromuscular Fatigue During Exercise

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are investigating how impaired oxygen delivery during exercise affects neuromuscular fatigue in patients who have both chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heart failure (HF). These two conditions often occur together and share a common problem of reduced tissue oxygen supply. The study aims to understand whether this oxygen delivery issue leads to more severe muscle and central fatigue during exercise in patients with both COPD and HF compared to those with only COPD. This research also explores ways to improve oxygen delivery and reduce fatigue through specific interventions. The study compares patients with COPD alone who exercise while breathing medical air to patients with both COPD and HF who first exercise under medical air and then under an intervention using a higher oxygen mixture called hyperoxia. These different conditions help researchers assess the effects of improved oxygen delivery. The interventions involve non-invasive treatments during exercise to see how they influence muscle and brain oxygen levels and fatigue. Participants will undergo exercise tests while researchers measure muscle fatigue immediately after exercise, as well as symptoms experienced during exercise, tissue oxygenation, cerebral blood flow, and heart function. The study includes comparisons between the COPD group and the COPD-HF group under medical air, and within the COPD-HF group comparing medical air and hyperoxia. The research team will monitor and assess these factors to better understand the physiological effects and potential benefits of the interventions. The study is expected to continue until December 2025.

Neuromuscular Fatigue During Exercise in COPD-HF Overlap