There have been numerous criticisms of the single-breath DLCO technique, many of them quite valid. In particular, the standard equation for calculating DLCO makes no consideration for the inspirato…
When DLCO tests are performed my lab’s standard policy to average two or more results that meet the criteria for quality and reproducibility. It is not unusual for us to perform three DLCO te…
The ATS-ERS standards on lung volume measurements says that measured TLC and RV can be calculated either by RV = FRC – ERV then TLC = RV + SVC or by TLC = FRC + IC then RV = TLC – SVC with the pref…
The Hospital Information Systems (HIS) at different medical centers have grown up mostly in isolation from each other. Even when an HIS is installed by a national vendor, each individual hospital h…
The last several decades has seen a complete transition to the use of computers in pulmonary function testing. This has improved Lab efficiency, but it is also the new baseline. Further improvement…
One of the hallmarks of chronic asthma is airway inflammation. This frequently causes an increase in the perfusion of the airways which in turn can appear as an increased DLCO in routine PFTs. A nu…
