Spiro-ergometry in patients suffering from Bechterew's disease.

Rogan, Needham, and McDonald (1955) performed lung-function tests on patients suffering from Bechterew's disease; their studies did not, however, include measurements during exercise. Julian, Travis, and Bayles (1959) also performed lung-function tests at rest only, but they advocated investigations during strain. Renzetti, Nicholas, Dutton, and Jivoff (1960) mention the occurrence of hyperventilation of patients with Bechterew's disease during exercise, but they did not describe how the exercise was performed. The functional condition of an organ or organic system is best evaluated when this organ or system is submitted to a certain degree of strain. Spiro-ergometry has therefore been carried out in this clinic since 1954 in a group of patients suffering from Bechterew's disease, and the following questions were considered: