TY - JOUR T1 - Time to Desaturation Less Than One Minute Predicts the Need for Long-Term Home Oxygen Therapy JF - Respiratory Care SP - 1812 LP - 1817 DO - 10.4187/respcare.01164 VL - 56 IS - 11 AU - Ignacio Garcia-Talavera AU - Alfonso Tauroni AU - Jose Luis Trujillo AU - Ruth Pitti AU - Luisa Eiroa AU - Armando Aguirre-Jaime AU - Alejandro Sánchez AU - Juan Abreu Y1 - 2011/11/01 UR - http://rc.rcjournal.com/content/56/11/1812.abstract N2 - BACKGROUND: Exercise desaturation in patients with COPD is a pathophysiological phenomenon that is not wholly understood and whose clinical consequences are still unclear. METHODS: Eighty-three patients with moderate to severe COPD and PaO2 > 60 mm Hg who desaturated during the 6-min walk test were followed for 5 years. Forty-eight patients had early desaturation (SpO2 fell below 90% less than one minute after starting the walk test). Spirometry, blood-gas measurements, and 6-min walk tests were performed every 6 months. We recorded 6-min walk distance, baseline SpO2, lowest SpO2, and the time to SpO2 < 90%. In each control, stable patients with severe hypoxia at rest who required long-term oxygen therapy were identified. RESULTS: Upon completion of the study, 65% of the early desaturators had developed severe hypoxemia and required long-term home oxygen, versus 11% in the non-early desaturators (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with moderate to severe COPD, desaturation within the first minute of the 6-min walk test predicts the need for long-term home oxygen at 5-year follow-up. ER -