Ventilatory Threshold During a Graded Exercise Test in Male Youths with Cerebral Palsy and Spastic Paresis of Lower Limbs

A group of 16 male youth with spastic diplegy of lower extremities were examined. Their mean age was 18.5 years, body height 166.5 ± 6,6 cm, and body mass 57.4 ± 7,7 kg. They were subjected to a graded cycle ergometer arm exercise until exhaustion. The following indices of the circulatory and respiratory systems at maximum intensity and at the ventilatory threshold (VT) were recorded: percentage difference in the inhaled-exhaled oxygen (t%O2) and carbon dioxide (t%CO2), lung ventilation (VE), oxygen uptake (VO2), carbon dioxide output (VCO2), respiratory quotient (RQ) as well as the respiratory equivalent of oxygen and carbon dioxide, indices of acid-base balance.