www.karger.com Clinical Investigations Respiration 2012;84:117–122 DOI: 10.1159/000337258 Speed of Ascent During Stair Climbing Identifies Operable Lung Resection Candidates

pared to stair climbing (22.7 ml/min/kg; p = 0.673). Speed of ascent was significantly correlated to both stair climbing peak V O 2 (r = 0.63) and treadmill V O 2max (r = 0.67). All 19 sub-jects (34%) who reached 20 m in 80 s or less ( 6 15 m/min) had a V O 2max of 6 20 ml/min/kg. Conclusions: We found a clini-cally useful correlation between speed of ascent during stair climbing and V O 2max during treadmill exercise testing. Climb-ing to 20 m with an average speed of ascent of 6 15 m/min accurately identified subjects qualifying for pneumonecto-my according to established criteria. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Base