Cardiopulmonary exercise testing: Is it time to be included in a routine checkup for a relatively healthy population?

Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is the gold-standard approach in assessing cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), the functional capacity of an individual, with an objective method based on peak oxygen consumption (peak VO2). CRF reflects the integrated ability of an individual to transport oxygen from the atmospheric air to the mitochondria of the muscle cells in order to perform physical work and is dependent on a linked chain of processes. Indeed, oxygen is transferred from the alveoli of the lungs (pulmonary ventilation and diffusion), and it travels in cardiovascular system via both ventricles in systole and diastole.