Methods for Measuring Lung Volumes: Is There a Better One?
The accuracy level of three different lung volumes techniques (body plethysmography, radiography with computerized tomography and dilution) were analyzed in the "Respiration - International Journal of Thoracic Medicine".
Accurate measurement of lung volumes is of paramount importance to establish the presence of ventilatory defects and give insights for diagnostic and/or therapeutic purposes. The aim of this study was to measure lung volumes in subjects with respiratory disorders and in normal controls by 3 different techniques (plethysmographic, dilutional and radiographic methods), in an attempt to clarify the role of each of them in performing such a task, without any presumptive ‘a priori' superiority of one method above others.
Study findings show that "in all circumstances, both computerized tomography (CT) scan with spirometric gating and plethysmographic methods provide similar values of lung volumes. In contrast, the dilution method can measure lower lung volumes in some patients with chronic airflow obstruction".
The article details are the following:
- Title: "Methods for Measuring Lung Volumes: Is There a Better One?"
- Authors: Tantucci C. et al - Respiratory Medicine Unit, Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
- Published in:Respiration. 2016 Mar 17
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