Chest ACCP Education Calendar
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Guest Access | Sign In via User Name/Password
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF) Free
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Article Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Meysman, M.
Right arrow Articles by Vincken, W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Meysman, M.
Right arrow Articles by Vincken, W.
(Chest. 1998;114:1042-1047.)
© 1998 American College of Chest Physicians

Effect of Body Posture on Spirometric Values and Upper Airway Obstruction Indices Derived From the Flow-Volume Loop in Young Nonobese Subjects

Marc Meysman MD1 and Walter Vincken MD, PhD, FCCP1

1 From the Respiratory Division, Department of Medicine, Academic Hospital, University of Brussels (AZ-VUB), Brussels, Belgium

Walter Vincken, MD, FCCP, Head, Respiratory Division, Academic Hospital, University of Brussels (AZ-VUB), Laarbeeklaan 101, 1090 Brussels, Belgium

Study objective: To define the effect of changes in body posture on flow-volume loops (FVLs) and four commonly used indices of upper airway obstruction (UAO) in young, nonobese normal subjects.

Design: Prospective comparative study.

Setting: Pulmonary function laboratory at an academic hospital.

Participants: Thirty-one normal volunteers.

Intervention: At least three FVLs per posture were obtained in the sitting, supine, and left and right lateral recumbent postures while maintaining a constant position of the head and neck in relation to the trunk. In each body posture, the largest observed flow rates were used to calculate the UAO indices.

Results: When subjects changed from the sitting to each of the three recumbent postures, all spirometric values decreased significantly (p<0.0001). However, among the four UAO indices, only the FEV1/peak expiratory flow ratio increased significantly (although only slightly, by 2.9 and 4.4%, respectively) in both the right and left lateral recumbent postures (p<0.0001), but not in the supine posture. None of the subjects developed an inspiratory or expiratory plateau on the FVL in any of the three recumbent postures.

Conclusions: In young, nonobese normal subjects, recumbency does not induce UAO, at least not detectable by changes in the FVL configuration or in UAO indices derived from the FVL. Furthermore, the study provides the upper limits of recumbency-related changes in the various UAO indices for young, nonobese normal subjects.

Key Words: body posture • flow-volume loop • upper airway obstruction • young normal subjects

Submitted on April 7, 1997
Accepted on March 23, 1998




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 ChestHome page
O. W. Hnatiuk, P. C. Corcoran, and A. Sierra
Spirometry in Surgery for Anterior Mediastinal Masses
Chest, October 1, 2001; 120(4): 1152 - 1156.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1998 by the American College of Chest Physicians.