Is gas trapping more common than we think it is?

Over the last couple of years I’ve run across a number of test systems that do not include tidal loops along with the maximal flow-volume loop. I’ve wondered why this was done and because of this I’ve thought a lot about tidal flow-volume loops and what additional information, if any, they add to spirometry interpretation.

One of my thoughts has been about the relationship between obesity and the IC and ERV. FVC and TLC are often reasonably preserved even with relatively severe obesity. FRC, on the other hand, is often noticeably affected with even minor changes in BMI (and interestingly this applies to reduced as well as elevated BMI’s). When FRC decreases because of obesity the IC usually increases and the ERV decreases and for this reason the IC/ERV ratio has been suggested as a way to monitor changes in FRC without having to actually measure lung volumes.

IC and ERV are not measured as part of spirometry but the position of the tidal loops gives at least a general indication of their magnitude and I’ve noticed that there’s a moderately good correlation between BMI and the position of the tidal loop.

With this in mind, I see up to a dozen reports a week with restrictive-looking spirometry (i.e. symmetrically reduced FVC and FEV1 with a normal FEV1/FVC ratio) on patients with a diagnosis of asthma. This is nothing new and there have probably been at least 10 articles in the last decade about the Restrictive Spirometry Pattern (RSP). Interpreting these kinds of spirometry results is always problematic, particularly when there are no prior lung volume measurements to rule-in or rule-out restriction. I’ve noticed however, that patients with a restrictive spirometry pattern almost always have the tidal loop on the far right-hand side of the flow-volume loop (zero or near zero ERV). For example:

Observed: %Predicted:
FVC: 1.65 74
FEV1: 1.21 73
FEV1/FVC: 73 100

But there doesn’t seem to be any relationship between this observation and the patient’s BMI and in fact, this is seen even when BMI is normal or somewhat reduced. Continue reading

Does the FEV1/SVC ratio over-diagnose airway obstruction?

A low FEV1/VC ratio is the primary indication for airway obstruction.

ATS_ERS_Interpretation_Algorithm

From ATS/ERS Interpretive Strategies for Lung Function tests, page 956.

The ATS/ERS statement on interpretation says

The VC, FEV1, FEV1/VC ratio and TLC are the basic parameters used to properly interpret lung function (fig. 2). Although FVC is often used in place of VC, it is preferable to use the largest available VC, whether obtained on inspiration (IVC), slow expiration (SVC) or forced expiration (i.e. FVC).”

I understand and in general agree with the idea of using the largest VC regardless of where it comes from and this is because the FVC is often underestimated for any number of good (and not so good) reasons. When this happens the FEV1/FVC ratio will be overestimated and airway obstruction will be under-diagnosed. However the ATS/ERS statement is also grounded in the notion that all vital capacities (FVC, SVC, IVC) are the same and this isn’t necessarily true. The problem comes from the fact that the predicted values and lower limit of normal (LLN) for the FEV1/VC ratio always come from reference equations for FEV1/FVC ratios. Because the SVC (and IVC) are usually larger than the FVC this means there is at least the potential for airway obstruction to be over-diagnosed.

Continue reading