Reply to: “Ventilatory efficiency in athletes, asthma and obesity”: different ventilatory phenotypes during exercise in obesity?

Abstract

We thank N. Borasio and co-workers for their correspondence bringing attention to their recent publications [1,2]. The ventilatory response to exercise in patients with obesity is clearly an area of interest, as their original research articles [1, 2], along with others [3], have been published after our review article "Ventilatory efficiency in athletes, asthma and obesity" [4] was first submitted for publication.Ventilatory efficiency after bariatric surgery: recent findings by BORASIO et al. [2] in patients with a baseline body mass index of 43.6±5.3 kg•m −2 show that the minute ventilation (Vʹ E )-carbon dioxide production (Vʹ CO 2 ) slope was reduced following sleeve gastrectomy, while the submaximal partial pressure of end-tidal carbon dioxide (P ETCO 2 ) at anaerobic threshold and Vʹ E /Vʹ CO 2 at the respiratory compensation point (i.e. nadir) were unchanged. The Vʹ E /Vʹ CO 2 ratio at peak exercise was not specifically reported, but can be calculated using Vʹ E , Vʹ CO 2 and respiratory exchange ratio data reported in the published tables [2]. Using these data, the Vʹ E /Vʹ CO 2 ratio at peak exercise appears slightly reduced after sleeve gastrectomy as compared to baseline (30.5 versus 29.1).