Oklahoma Heart Health Institute Offers First Cardiopulmonary Exercise Test

A medical procedure that helps figure out why some people have a hard time breathing is now available to people here in Tulsa.

Until now, people might have to wait years to get results and now, they can get answers immediately. The Oklahoma Heart Institute said it is the first in Oklahoma to offer this procedure. When you walk into the procedure room, all of the equipment can be overwhelming.

Alan Griffey went from fighting flames to fighting for a breath. Even the recently retired firefighter was taken aback.

"If your house was on fire, I'd want you to trust us to do the right thing and we put our trust into them," said Alan Griffey.

Nurse Monica is in the room to talk with the patients and ease their anxiety while making sure the mask is secure and they're getting a good recording, so the doctor knows what the data is showing.

"I will be there, right beside you and I will be there to hold your hand," said Monica Carter, a registered nurse.

"She reached over, she said you can do it, you can get there, and she reached down to even just hold my hand while we got that last little bit," said Griffey.

"I feel like I actually make a difference every day," said Carter.

Cardiopulmonary exercise testing is what helped Alan's doctors determine he had a heart arrhythmia so now he can get the treatment he needs. They can measure your breathing using a face mask or mouthpiece while you're peddling... it starts off slow and easy then the resistance of the bike begins to increase. You're hooked up to an EKG, a blood pressure cuff, and a blood oxygen sensor. The test is for people who can't catch their breath, get dizzy easily or constantly need to rest doing daily activities, and it can help determine the severity of heart failure.

It gives doctors a complete picture of how well your lungs, heart and skeletal muscles work together to process oxygen.

"Long covid is emerging and for these patients the diagnosis can be very frustrating and very difficult for providers to navigate," said Dr. Steven Stroud, cardiologist & director of pulmonary hypertension at OHI. "There's research that this test remains the gold standard."

Alan said it's like a breath of fresh air.

"I had to change a lot of my diet and there's nothing out there that tastes better than feeling good," said Griffey.