Impaired skeletal muscle function has been reported in patients with chronic obstructive disease (COPD), but such impairment is not homogenous and its distribution between the upper and the lower limbs is still unclear. The present study was designed to assess and compare upper and lower limb capacities in patients with moderate to severe COPD during incremental and constant-load exercises. Thirteen COPD patients of similar age with moderate to severe air flow limitation (FEV(1): 35%+/-5% predicted) and 19 healthy subjects were studied. Four sessions were organized: two incremental and two constant-load cycling exercises with arm or leg in randomized order. As observed in a previous study involving incremental and constant tests, power, VO(2), RER, VE, and HR were all significantly lower in the upper and lower limbs of patients with COPD than in healthy controls. In the healthy population, aerobic capacity and mechanical efficiency (ME) were lower in the course of arm exercises than in leg exercises. For the same relative workload, dyspnea and blood lactate production were higher during arm exercise. In contrast, no significant difference was observed between arm and leg capacities for any of these parameters in COPD patients.
Conclusion: Although aerobic capacity is impaired in COPD patients, arm aerobic capacity is relatively preserved. Given the lack of significant difference between arm and leg capacities in COPD, we hypothesize that upper limb muscles are less compromised than lower limb muscles in this patient population.