INTRODUCTION Lung Clearance Index (LCI) is recognised as an early marker of cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease. The effect of posture on LCI however is important when considering longitudinal measurements from infancy and when comparing LCI to imaging studies. METHODS 35 children with CF and 28 healthy controls (HC) were assessed. Multiple breath washout (MBW) was performed both sitting and su...

BACKGROUND In acute lung injury, CO2 exchange is enhanced by prolonging the volume-weighted mean time for fresh gas to mix with resident alveolar gas, denoted mean distribution time (MDT), and by increasing the flow rate immediately before inspiratory flow interruption, end-inspiratory flow (EIF). The objective was to study these effects in human subjects without lung disease and to analyse the...

Aminophylline and isoprenaline, two drugs widely used in the managem2nt of asthma, have a pulmonary vasodilator action as well as a bronchodilator action. If regional pulmonary vasoconstriction in poorly ventilated parts of the lungs is a significant compensatory phenomenon in asthma, the effects of administration of these agents on gas exchange would depend on the relative magnitudes of bronch...

A reduction of exhaled nitric oxide (NO) fraction and endothelial-mediated dysfunction have been reported in cystic fibrosis (CF). The aims of the present study were to search for relationships between flow-independent NO exchange parameters (bronchial NO flux (J'(aw,NO)) and alveolar NO concentration (C(A,NO))) and lung function tests characterising airflow limitation and pulmonary vascular be...

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome or ARDS is a diffuse inflammatory lung process that frequently manifests in critically ill patients, with an estimated incidence of 190,000 cases and 74,500 deaths per year in the United States alone [1]. Clinical ARDS is associated with specific risk factors that can be broadly divided into intra-pulmonary conditions, including pneumonia, aspiration, and blu...

OBJECTIVE To analyze and compare lung function of obese and healthy, normal-weight children and adolescents, without asthma, through spirometry and volumetric capnography. METHODS Cross-sectional study including 77 subjects (38 obese) aged 5-17 years. All subjects underwent spirometry and volumetric capnography. The evaluations were repeated in obese subjects after the use of a bronchodilator...

After partial gastrectomy there is hypoxaemia which persists for many days. This occurs in patients without complications as well as in those who develop pulmonary collapse; and although pulmonary mechanical function is much impaired as a result of the operation in both, in neither is post-operative hypoxaemia due to inadequate alveolar ventilation since the arterial (alveolar) CO2 tension is n...

Several indices of ventilatory heterogeneity can be identified from the expiratory CO2 partial pressure or CO2 elimination versus volume curves. The aims of this study were: 1) to analyse several computerizable indices of volumetric capnography in order to detect ventilatory disturbances; and 2) to establish the relationship between those indices and respiratory system mechanics in subjects wit...

STUDY OBJECTIVES The precise anatomic sites contributing to exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) are still unknown. The present study was designed to analyze profiles of eNO by referring to the He exhalation curve and examining the effects of breath-holding and expiratory flow rates on eNO. PARTICIPANTS Healthy volunteers and patients with stable asthma. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS We used the He bolus me...

Replacing gas in the lung with perfluorocarbon fluids (PFC) and periodically ventilating with a gas [partial liquid ventilation (PLV)] has been shown to improve oxygenation in models of respiratory distress syndrome. We hypothesized that the addition of PFC to healthy lungs would result in shunt, diffusion impairment, and increased ventilation-perfusion (VA/Q) heterogeneity. Previously, Mates e...