Thirty-four otherwise healthy patients having to undergo elective upper abdominal surgery were randomly assigned to two equal groups. In the treatment group, constant positive airway pressure (CPAP) with an expiratory pressure of 12 cm H2O was applied at one hour following extubation, and at daily intervals for the first five days following surgery for a continuous period of three hours. The co...

Forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in one second, functional residual capacity, residual volume, total lung capacity, and single breath diffusing capacity measurements (effective alveolar volume, carbon monoxide transfer factor, and transfer coefficient) were measured in 247 young healthy adults (130 male, 117 female) aged 15-40 years living in Madras. Subjects were of Dravidian st...

We studied the pulmonary function and ventilatory response to carbon dioxide and hypoxia in three sisters aged 16, 13, and 10 years who presented with droopy eyelids, external ophthalmoplegia, hearing loss, speech difficulty, and truncal muscular weakness. Pulmonary function test results showed decreased maximum static pressure, reduced vital capacity and total lung capacity, normal functional ...