How to Read a Pulmonary Test Results

Understanding Your Animate Test Results

At that place are many ways that a doctor tin can tell if your lungs are working properly. First, the md can do a physical examination using a stethoscope. The doctor will listen to hear if whatsoever of the "breath sounds" are abnormal. For example, wheezing, a loftier-pitched sound produced by airflow through narrowed airways, is an example of an aberrant sound. The doctor can also take a flick of your lungs using a chest 10-ray or CAT scan to wait for abnormalities in the structure of the lungs, such as an infection like pneumonia.  However, these 2 tests can still miss of import problems. For this reason, a breathing test, chosen spirometry, is oft washed to farther evaluate the wellness of the lungs.

Spirometry can tell you how much air is going into the lungs and how speedily air is inhaled and exhaled in the lungs (airflow).
One of the benefits of spirometry testing (likewise referred to as "pulmonary office testing") is that information technology can find abnormalities in lung function fifty-fifty when no signs or symptoms of disease are evident. An example of this would be a cigarette smoker without shortness of jiff who shows a mild subtract in airflow. In this case, the spirometry test detects disease at an early stage (before the onset of symptoms), so treatment (and smoking cessation, in this instance) can exist initiated before. Spirometry can also be used to assist establish a medical diagnosis when signs or symptoms of disease are evident. An case of this would be a person who has adult wheezing. If decreased airflow is detected along with wheezing, this can exist an indicator of asthma. Spirometry tin can also exist used to assess the effectiveness of medical treatment. If a medication is given to open narrowed airways, information technology should exist monitored by spirometry to ensure that the normal airflow is restored.

Spirometry is performed by deeply inhaling and forcefully exhaling into a spirometer (the device that records the various measurements of lung function). There are two measurements that are crucial in the interpretation of spirometry results. The starting time is called the forced vital capacity (FVC). This is a measurement of lung size (in liters) and represents the book of air in the lungs that can exist exhaled following a deep inhalation. The 2d is the forced expiratory volume-1 second (FEV1). This is a measure of how much air can be exhaled in one 2d post-obit a deep inhalation. You lot will also see some other number on the spirometry test results --- the FEV1/ FVC ratio. This number represents the percent of the lung size (FVC) that can be exhaled in one 2nd. For instance, if the FEV1 is 4 and the FVC is 5, then the FEV1/ FVC ratio would be 4/5 or 80%. This means the individual can breath out 80% of the inhaled air in the lungs in one second.

The three key spirometry measurements (the FVC, FEV1 and FEV1/FVC ratio) for a given individual are compared to reference values. The reference value is based on healthy individuals with normal lung function and it tells the medico the values that would be expected for someone of the same sexual activity, age and summit. To find the reference value on your spirometry report, look for the column marked "reference" or "predicted" value.

Interpretations of spirometry results require comparing betwixt an individual's measured value and the reference value. If the FVC and the FEV1 are inside fourscore% of the reference value, the results are considered normal. The normal value for the FEV1/FVC ratio is 70% (and 65% in persons older than age 65). When compared to the reference value, a lower measured value corresponds to a more severe lung aberration. (See tabular array below.)

SPIROMETRY Examination	NORMAL	ABNORMAL
FVC and FEV1	Equal to or greater than eighty%	Mild Moderate Severe	70-79% 60-69% less than lx%
FEV1/FVC	Equal to or greater than 70%	Balmy Moderate Severe	60-69% 50-59% less than 50%

Restrictive lung diseases tin cause the FVC to be aberrant. This means that the lung is restricted from filling to its normal chapters of air. Asbestosis (scarring of the lung due to asbestos exposure) is an example of a restrictive lung disease. Abnormalities of the FEV1 and FEV1/FVC are the result of a decrease in the airflow through the lung, which may be caused by obstructive lung diseases. Examples of obstructive diseases are emphysema and asthma. It is also possible to have situations where both restrictive and obstructive diseases are present.

WHPP includes spirometry as office of the costless medical examination. Many participants have learned of, or have confirmed problems with their animate after participating in the program. In summary, spirometry can exist used for several purposes --- the early detection of lung disease, establishing a medical diagnosis or monitoring the effectiveness of medical therapy. A physician can also use the results to determine whether boosted lung tests are needed to diagnose conditions detected by spirometry abnormalities.

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Source: http://www.worker-health.org/breathingtestresults.html

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