Chest ACCP Career Connection
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 Free
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
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
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 ISI Web of Science (13)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Paget-Brown, A. O.
Right arrow Articles by Hunt, J. F.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Paget-Brown, A. O.
Right arrow Articles by Hunt, J. F.
(Chest. 2006;129:426-430.)
© 2006 American College of Chest Physicians

Normative Data for pH of Exhaled Breath Condensate*

Alix O. Paget-Brown, MD; Lina Ngamtrakulpanit, MD; Alison Smith, BA; Dorothy Bunyan; Stephanie Hom, BS; Ashley Nguyen, BA and John F. Hunt, MD

* From the Divisions of Neonatology (Dr. Paget-Brown) and Respiratory Medicine (Ms. Smith, Ms. Bunyon, Ms. Hom, Ms. Nguyen, and Dr. Hunt), Department of Pediatrics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA.

Correspondence to: John Hunt, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Box 800386, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908; e-mail: Jfh2m{at}virginia.edu

Abstract

Introduction: Measurement of pH is one of the simplest and most technically validated biomarkers studied in exhaled breath condensate (EBC). The pH of EBC has been found to be lower than controls in many respiratory disorders. Published data from normal control subjects have been reasonably consistent, but the data sets are not large. This study was undertaken to establish normative EBC pH reference values.

Participants: Four hundred four healthy subjects of all ages were enrolled.

Interventions: Each participant provided a single EBC sample using a disposable collector at modest temperature so that EBC was collected as a liquid.

Measurements and results: Samples of EBC were bubbled with argon gas to standardize for carbon dioxide, and pH was recorded with a calibrated and validated glass microelectrode on stabilization. The median EBC pH was 8.0 with interquartile (25 to 75%) range of 7.8 to 8.1. There were no differences based on age, sex, or race. The distribution is skewed, with 6.4% of EBC samples having a pH range < 7.4.

Conclusions: An extensive normal data set now exists that reveals EBC pH is maintained in a modestly alkaline and tight range in subjects who consider themselves healthy.

Key Words: airway pH • exhaled breath condensate • reference ranges






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2006 by the American College of Chest Physicians.