Pathophysiological factors which limit the exercise capacity of the sick child.

While deficient exercise performance of sick children results from hypoactivity and detraining, it can also be caused by specific pathophysiological factors. These can affect one or more components of physical fitness. A low maximal aerobic power will result from a low maximal stroke volume, as in aortic stenosis or cardiomyopathy; a low maximal heart rate, as in congenital complete heart block or intake of beta-blockers; a low O2 content of the arterial blood, as in anemia or advanced cystic fibrosis; and a high O2 content of mixed-venous blood, as in muscle atrophy or severe malnutrition. A high O2 cost of locomotion, as in advanced obesity or cerebral palsy, will cause the patient to exert at a high percentage of his maximal aerobic power and thus fatigue easily. A subnormal muscle strength, as in progressive muscular dystrophy or juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, is sometimes the primary factor that limits the walking ability or other daily functions. Recent data suggest that local muscle endurance, as assessed by the Wingate anaerobic test, is particularly deficient in some neuromuscular diseases. Examples are muscular dystrophies and spastic cerebral palsy. The ratio of peak anaerobic power to peak aerobic power seems lower in such patients than in able-bodied controls.