Medical Inspection – Health Blog

Letters were mailed to the directors of training programs in adult respiratory disease listed by the American Thoracic Society. We requested specific citations for the prediction equations used for spirometry, lung volumes, carbon monoxide diffusing capacity, and airway resistance. We also asked for a description of how they dealt with ethnic differences in pulmonary function. A follow up request was sent to institutions which had not responded to the first inquiry.

Results

One hundred and eighty institutions were surveyed; 96 replies were received after the first mailing, 50 after the second. Seven replies were excluded because they lacked adequate detail. We were able to analyze 139 replies (77.2 percent of those surveyed). The geographic distribution of inquiries and responses is shown in Table 1.
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Table 1—Geographic Distribution of Inquiries and Responses

All 139 institutions provided reference equations for spirometry. We chose to deal only with standard spirometric indices and have listed only equations cited by more than one institution; equations cited only once are included as “other studies.” The re­sponses are summarized in Table 2. Six institutions used reference equations from different studies to predict FVC and FEV1 six others selected prediction equations from different studies for men and women. Prediction equations for FEV/FVC and FEF25-75% came from sources different from those used for FVC and FEV, in six and 16 institutions, respectively. Thirty-nine centers predicted normal FEV,/FVC by dividing predicted FEVi by predicted FVC.

Table 2—Summary of Institutions Citing References for Prediction of Spirometry

One hundred thirty-five (97.2 percent) institutions furnished reference equations for assessing lung vol­umes (Table 3). Six of the nine institutions using Boren et al to predict lung volumes for men used the Goldman equations for women. Apcalis Oral Jelly

Table 3—Summary of Institutions Citing References for Prediction of Lung Volumes

The responses for carbon monoxide diffusing capacity are summarized in Table 4. Two centers predict Deo based on unpublished studies conducted at their institutions.

Table 4—Summary of Institutions Citing References for Prediction of Carbon Monoxide Diffusing Capacity

Sixty-six institutions did not comment on airway resistance and 16 specifically said they did not measure airway resistance. Of the 57 which supplied informa­tion on normal values for airway resistance, 48 used reference equations to predict normal values while nine used a numerical range derived from “clinical experience.” The equations used to predict airway resistance are summarized in Table 5. viagra 50 mg

Table 5—Summary of Institutions Citing References for the Prediction of Airways Resistance