DLCO overestimated from an apparent zero offset error
I’ve had some concerns for a while now about how the CO and CH4 concentrations are being calculated from the DLCO analyzer calibration zero offsets and gains on our test systems. For this rea…
Month May 2013
Tidal Expiratory Flow Limitation and NEP
Expiratory flow limitation exists when increasing expiratory effort fails to increase the expiratory flow rate. This can been seen when a patient exhales along the same flow-volume curve during qui…
Odd results from a leak during a DLCO test
One of our testing systems has been leaking during the breath-holding period of DLCO tests. This has been an on-again, off-again problem caused by a leaking balloon valve. The odd thing about this …
Should PFT Lab staff be credentialed?
The issue of PFT staff licensure or certification has recently been a topic of discussion on the LinkedIn Pulmonary Function Studies group and the Diagnostics section of the AARConnect discussion b…
FEV6
FEV6 (the volume of air forcefully exhaled after 6 seconds) has been proposed as a replacement or surrogate for FVC in spirometry. Given that using FEV6 would simplify and speed up the spirometry t…