Value of air trapping in detection of small airways disease in smokers

2003 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 517-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Vikgren ◽  
B. Bake ◽  
A. Ekberg-Jansson ◽  
S. Larsson ◽  
U. Tylén

Purpose: To test the hypothesis that diffuse and/or focal air trapping are sensitive indicators of airflow obstruction in smoker's small airways disease, when age, gender and presence of emphysematous lesions were allowed for. Material and Methods: Fifty-eight smokers and 34 never smokers, recruited from a randomized population study of men born in 1933, were investigated by HRCT and by extended pulmonary function tests, including a sensitive test for small airways disease (N2 slope). Diffuse air trapping was evaluated by calculating a quotient of mean lung density at expiration and inspiration. Focal air trapping was scored visually by consensus. Results: Diffuse air trapping did not differ between non-emphysematous smokers and never smokers. Furthermore, diffuse air trapping correlated well to the quotient between the residual volume and total lung capacity (RV/TLC, p = 0.01) and was consequently higher in emphysematous smokers than in never smokers. Focal air trapping was found as frequently in smokers without emphysema as in never smokers. Smokers with emphysema showed significantly less focal air trapping. Neither the N2 slope nor any of the other lung function variables differed between those with and without focal air trapping among non-emphysematous smokers. Conclusion: Neither diffuse nor focal air trapping are sensitive indicators of smoker's small airways disease.

1984 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. S. Hurst ◽  
B. L. Graham ◽  
D. J. Cotton

We studied 10 symptom-free lifetime non-smokers and 17 smokers all with normal pulmonary function studies. All subjects performed single-breath N2 washout tests by either exhaling slowly (“slow maneuver”) from end inspiration (EI) to residual volume (RV) or exhaling maximally (“fast maneuver”) from EI to RV. After either maneuver, subjects then slowly inhaled 100% O2 to total lung capacity (TLC) and without breath holding, exhaled slowly back to RV. In the nonsmokers seated upright phase III slope of single-breath N2 test (delta N2/l) was lower (P less than 0.01) for the fast vs. the slow maneuver, but this difference disappeared when the subjects repeated the maneuvers in the supine position. In contrast, delta N2/l was higher for the fast vs. the slow maneuver (P less than 0.01) in smokers seated upright. For the slow maneuver, delta N2/l was similar between smokers and nonsmokers but for the fast maneuvers delta N2/l was higher in smokers than nonsmokers (P less than 0.01). We suggest that the fast exhalation to RV decreases delta N2/l in normal subjects by decreasing apex-to-base differences in regional ratio of RV to TLC (RV/TLC) but increases delta N2/l in smokers, because regional RV/TLC increases distal to sites of small airways obstruction when the expiratory flow rate is increased.


1981 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 313-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Ruff ◽  
R. R. Martin ◽  
J. Milic-Emili

By use of 133Xe, the regional distribution of residual volume (RV) was measured in six seated healthy men, following a fast vital capacity (VC) expiration a) without and b) with a breath hold at residual volume of approximately 30 s and c) following a slow (greater than 30 s) VC expiration from total lung capacity (TLC) without a breath hold at RV. After the breath hold at RV, regional RV/TLC in the lower lung zones decreased significantly compared wih results obtained with fast expiratory VC and no breath hold at RV. At lung top the opposite was true. The distribution of regional RV/TLC was the same following the slow VC expiration with no breath hold at RV as with the fast expiration with the breath hold at RV. The different regional distribution of RV in b and c relative to a was probably due mainly to collateral ventilation, i.e., during the breath hold at RV and the slow expiration some of the gas that was trapped in the dependent lung zones behind closed airways escaped into the upper regions of the lung where the small airways had remained patent, leading to increased expansion of upper alveoli.


1981 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. I. M. Noble ◽  
F. Langley ◽  
M. Buckman ◽  
P. Vernon ◽  
A. Seed ◽  
...  

1. Nineteen patients (three normal subjects, and 16 patients with chronic airway disease) were investigated with radionuclide lung-imaging and pulmonary function tests. 2. There was a statistically significant correlation between the ratio of residual volume to total lung capacity and alveolar dead-space ventilation for nitrogen as a percentage of alveolar ventilation (an index of gas mixing inefficiency); rS = 0.54, P < 0.05. 3. There were statistically significant associations between an abnormal ventilation or perfusion radionuclide lung image and (a) the ratio of residual volume to total lung capacity and (b) the alveolar dead-space ventilation for nitrogen as a percentage of alveolar ventilation. 4. The radionuclide counts from the posterior images were normalized for lung size and injected dose; perfusion counts were then subtracted from ventilation counts at locations from the top to the bottom of the lungs. 5. There was a statistically significant association between low ventilation minus perfusion areas and arterial hypoxia. 6. There was a statistically significant association between high ventilation minus perfusion areas and an increased alveolar dead-space ventilation for carbon dioxide as a percentage of alveolar ventilation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 181 (11) ◽  
pp. 879-887
Author(s):  
Mats W. Johansson ◽  
Brandon M. Grill ◽  
Karina T. Barretto ◽  
Molly C. Favour ◽  
Hazel M. Schira ◽  
...  

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Severe asthma has multiple phenotypes for which biomarkers are still being defined. Plasma P-selectin reports endothelial and/or platelet activation. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> To determine if P-selectin is associated with features of asthma in a longitudinal study. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Plasmas from 70 adult patients enrolled in the Severe Asthma Research Program (SARP) III at the University of Wisconsin-Madison were analyzed for concentration of P-selectin at several points over the course of 3 years, namely, at baseline (BPS), after intramuscular triamcinolone acetonide (TA) injection, and at 36 months after baseline. Thirty-four participants also came in during acute exacerbation and 6 weeks after exacerbation. <b><i>Results:</i></b> BPS correlated inversely with forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV<sub>1</sub>) and with residual volume/total lung capacity, an indicator of air trapping. BPS was inversely associated with FEV<sub>1</sub> change after TA, by regression analysis. FEV<sub>1</sub> did not change significantly after TA if BPS was above the median, whereas patients with BPS below the median had significantly increased FEV<sub>1</sub> after TA. BPS was higher in and predicted assignment to SARP phenotype cluster 5 (“severe fixed-airflow asthma”). P-selectin was modestly but significantly increased at exacerbation but returned to baseline within 3 years. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> High BPS is associated with airway obstruction, air trapping, the “severe fixed-airflow” cluster, and lack of FEV<sub>1</sub> improvement in response to TA injection. P-selectin concentration, which is a stable trait with only modest elevation during exacerbation, may be a useful biomarker for a severe asthma pheno- or endotype characterized by low pulmonary function and lack of corticosteroid responsiveness.


1994 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
pp. 2005-2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. R. Elliott ◽  
G. K. Prisk ◽  
H. J. Guy ◽  
J. B. West

Gravity is known to influence the mechanical behavior of the lung and chest wall. However, the effect of sustained microgravity (mu G) on lung volumes has not been reported. Pulmonary function tests were performed by four subjects before, during, and after 9 days of mu G exposure. Ground measurements were made in standing and supine postures. Tests were performed using a bag-in-box-and-flowmeter system and a respiratory mass spectrometer. Measurements included functional residual capacity (FRC), expiratory reserve volume (ERV), residual volume (RV), inspiratory and expiratory vital capacities (IVC and EVC), and tidal volume (VT). Total lung capacity (TLC) was derived from the measured EVC and RV values. With preflight standing values as a comparison, FRC was significantly reduced by 15% (approximately 500 ml) in mu G and 32% in the supine posture. ERV was reduced by 10–20% in mu G and decreased by 64% in the supine posture. RV was significantly reduced by 18% (310 ml) in mu G but did not significantly change in the supine posture compared with standing. IVC and EVC were slightly reduced during the first 24 h of mu G but returned to 1-G standing values within 72 h of mu G exposure. IVC and EVC in the supine posture were significantly reduced by 12% compared with standing. During mu G, VT decreased by 15% (approximately 90 ml), but supine VT was unchanged compared with preflight standing values. TLC decreased by approximately 8% during mu G and in the supine posture compared with preflight standing. The reductions in FRC, ERV, and RV during mu G are probably due to the cranial shift of the diaphragm, an increase in intrathoracic blood volume, and more uniform alveolar expansion.


Respiration ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Roberta Pisi ◽  
Marina Aiello ◽  
Luigino Calzetta ◽  
Annalisa Frizzelli ◽  
Veronica Alfieri ◽  
...  

<b><i>Background:</i></b> The ventilation heterogeneity (VH) is reliably assessed by the multiple-breath nitrogen washout (MBNW), which provides indices of conductive (<i>S</i><sub>cond</sub>) and acinar (<i>S</i><sub>acin</sub>) VH as well as the lung clearance index (LCI), an index of global VH. VH can be alternatively measured by the poorly communicating fraction (PCF), that is, the ratio of total lung capacity by body plethysmography to alveolar volume from the single-breath lung diffusing capacity measurement. <b><i>Objectives:</i></b> Our objective was to assess VH by PCF and MBNW in patients with asthma and with COPD and to compare PCF and MBNW parameters in both patient groups. <b><i>Method:</i></b> We studied 35 asthmatic patients and 45 patients with COPD. Each patient performed spirometry, body plethysmography, diffusing capacity, and MBNW test. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Compared to COPD patients, asthmatics showed a significantly lesser degree of airflow obstruction and lung hyperinflation. In asthmatic patients, both PCF and LCI and <i>S</i><sub>acin</sub> values were significantly lower than the corresponding ones of COPD patients. In addition, in both patient groups, PCF showed a positive correlation with LCI (<i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.05) and <i>S</i><sub>acin</sub> (<i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.05), but not with <i>S</i><sub>cond</sub>. Lastly, COPD patients with PCF &#x3e;30% were highly likely to have a value ≥2 of the mMRC dyspnea scale. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> These results showed that PCF, a readily measure derived from routine pulmonary function testing, can provide a comprehensive measure of both global and acinar VH in asthma and in COPD patients and can be considered as a comparable tool to the well-established MBNW technique.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1959 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-193
Author(s):  
C. D. Cook ◽  
P. J. Helliesen ◽  
L. Kulczycki ◽  
H. Barrie ◽  
L. Friedlander ◽  
...  

Tidal volume, respiratory rate and lung volumes have been measured in 64 patients with cystic fibrosis of the pancreas while lung compliance and resistance were measured in 42 of these. Serial studies of lung volumes were done in 43. Tidal volume was reduced and the respiratory rate increased only in the most severely ill patients. Excluding the three patients with lobectomies, residual volume and functional residual capacity were found to be significantly increased in 46 and 21%, respectively. These changes correlated well with the roentgenographic evaluation of emphysema. Vital capacity was significantly reduced in 34% while total lung capacity was, on the average, relatively unchanged. Seventy per cent of the 61 patients had a signficantly elevated RV/TLC ratio. Lung compliance was significantly reduced in only the most severely ill patients but resistance was significantly increased in 35% of the patients studied. The serial studies of lung volumes showed no consistent trends among the groups of patients in the period between studies. However, 10% of the surviving patients showed evidence of significant improvement while 15% deteriorated. [See Fig. 8. in Source Pdf.] Although there were individual discrepancies, there was a definite correlation between the clinical evaluation and tests of respiratory function, especially the changes in residual volume, the vital capacity, RV/ TLC ratio and the lung compliance and resistance.


2017 ◽  
Vol 123 (4) ◽  
pp. 876-883 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert H. Brown ◽  
Robert J. Henderson ◽  
Elizabeth A. Sugar ◽  
Janet T. Holbrook ◽  
Robert A. Wise

Brown RH, Henderson RJ, Sugar EA, Holbrook JT, Wise RA, on behalf of the American Lung Association Airways Clinical Research Centers. Reproducibility of airway luminal size in asthma measured by HRCT. J Appl Physiol 123: 876–883, 2017. First published July 13, 2017; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00307.2017.—High-resolution CT (HRCT) is a well-established imaging technology used to measure lung and airway morphology in vivo. However, there is a surprising lack of studies examining HRCT reproducibility. The CPAP Trial was a multicenter, randomized, three-parallel-arm, sham-controlled 12-wk clinical trial to assess the use of a nocturnal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device on airway reactivity to methacholine. The lack of a treatment effect of CPAP on clinical or HRCT measures provided an opportunity for the current analysis. We assessed the reproducibility of HRCT imaging over 12 wk. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were calculated for individual airway segments, individual lung lobes, both lungs, and air trapping. The ICC [95% confidence interval (CI)] for airway luminal size at total lung capacity ranged from 0.95 (0.91, 0.97) to 0.47 (0.27, 0.69). The ICC (95% CI) for airway luminal size at functional residual capacity ranged from 0.91 (0.85, 0.95) to 0.32 (0.11, 0.65). The ICC measurements for airway distensibility index and wall thickness were lower, ranging from poor (0.08) to moderate (0.63) agreement. The ICC for air trapping at functional residual capacity was 0.89 (0.81, 0.94) and varied only modestly by lobe from 0.76 (0.61, 0.87) to 0.95 (0.92, 0.97). In stable well-controlled asthmatic subjects, it is possible to reproducibly image unstimulated airway luminal areas over time, by region, and by size at total lung capacity throughout the lungs. Therefore, any changes in luminal size on repeat CT imaging are more likely due to changes in disease state and less likely due to normal variability. NEW & NOTEWORTHY There is a surprising lack of studies examining the reproducibility of high-resolution CT in asthma. The current study examined reproducibility of airway measurements. In stable well-controlled asthmatic subjects, it is possible to reproducibly image airway luminal areas over time, by region, and by size at total lung capacity throughout the lungs. Therefore, any changes in luminal size on repeat CT imaging are more likely due to changes in disease state and less likely due to normal variability.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 3761
Author(s):  
Takato Ikeda ◽  
Yoshiaki Kinoshita ◽  
Yusuke Ueda ◽  
Tomoya Sasaki ◽  
Hisako Kushima ◽  
...  

Background: Diagnostic criteria of idiopathic pleuroparenchymal fibroelastosis (IPPFE) were recently proposed, including physiological criteria of the body mass index (BMI) and percentage of the predicted values of residual volume (RV)/total lung capacity (TLC) (RV/TLC %pred.). The aim of this study was to evaluate (i) whether the physiologic criteria are useful for the diagnosis and (ii) whether the flat chest index, defined as the ratio of the anteroposterior diameter to the transverse diameter of the thoracic cage, could be an alternative parameter to RV/TLC %pred. Methods: We selected consecutive IPPFE patients and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients. We examined the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of the physiological criteria and flat chest index for differentiating IPPFE patients from IPF patients. Results: This study included 37 IPPFE patients and 89 IPF patients. The physiological criteria distinguished IPPFE patients from IPF patients with a sensitivity of 78.6% and specificity of 88.0%. The combination of the flat chest index and BMI was also effective for differentiation (sensitivity of 82.1% and specificity of 89.3%). Conclusion: We verified the good performance of the physiologic criteria in a different cohort. When the RV/TLC is not measured, using the flat chest index instead of RV/TLC %pred. may be reasonable.


1992 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 151-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. C. Poole ◽  
O. Mathieu-Costello

To determine the potential range of diaphragm sarcomere lengths in situ and the effect of changes in sarcomere length on capillary and fiber geometry, rat diaphragms were perfusion fixed in situ with glutaraldehyde at different airway pressures and during electrical stimulation. The lengths of thick (1.517 +/- 0.007 microns) and thin (1.194 +/- 0.048 microns) filaments were not different from those established for rat limb muscle. Morphometric techniques were used to determine fiber cross-sectional area, sarcomere length, capillary orientation, and capillary length and surface area per fiber volume. All measurements were referenced to sarcomere length, which averaged 2.88 +/- 0.08 microns at -20 to -25 cmH2O airway pressure (residual volume) and 2.32 +/- 0.05 microns at +20 to +26 cmH2O airway pressure (total lung capacity). The contribution of capillary tortuosity and branching to total capillary length was dependent on sarcomere length and varied from 5 to 22%, consistent with that shown previously for mammalian limb muscles over this range of sarcomere lengths. Capillary length per fiber volume [Jv(c,f)] was significantly greater at residual volume (3,761 +/- 193 mm-2) than at total lung capacity (3,142 +/- 118 mm-2) and correlated with sarcomere length [l; r = 0.628, Jv(c,f) = 876l + 1,156, P less than 0.01; n = 18]. We conclude that the diaphragm is unusual in that the apparent in situ minimal sarcomere length is greater than 2.0 microns.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


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