spirometry
Sign in to savethumb|right|Doing spirometry Spirometry (meaning the measuring of breath) is the most common of the pulmonary function tests (PFTs). It measures lung function, specifically the amount (volume) and/or speed (flow) of air that can be inhaled and exhaled. Spirometry is helpful in assessing breathing patterns that identify conditions such as asthma, pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis, and COPD. It is also helpful as part of a system of health surveillance, in which breathing patterns are measured over time.
Key facts
- Diagnostic.Caption
- Flow-Volume loop showing successful FVC maneuver. Positive values represent expiration, negative values represent inspiration. At the start of the test both flow and volume are equal to zero (representing the volume in the spirometer rather than the lung). The trace moves clockwise for expiration followed by inspiration. After the starting point the curve rapidly mounts to a peak (the peak expiratory flow). (Note the FEV1 value is arbitrary in this graph and just shown for illustrative purposes; these values must be calculated as part of the procedure).
- Diagnostic.MeshID
- D013147
- Diagnostic.Name
- Spirometry
- Diagnostic.Image
- Flow-volume-loop.svg
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
25 sectionsContents
- Testing
- Spirometer
- Procedure
- Limitations
- Supplemental diagnostics
- Indications
- Contraindications
- Parameters
- Forced vital capacity (FVC)
- Forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1)
- FEV1/FVC ratio
- Forced expiratory flow (FEF)
- Forced inspiratory flow 25–75% or 25–50%
- Peak expiratory flow (PEF)
- Tidal volume (TV)
- Total lung capacity (TLC)
- Diffusing capacity (DLCO)
- Maximum voluntary ventilation (MVV)
- Static lung compliance (C<sub>st</sub>)
- Others
- Technologies used in spirometers
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|right|Doing spirometry Spirometry (meaning the measuring of breath) is the most common of the pulmonary function tests (PFTs). It measures lung function, specifically the amount (volume) and/or speed (flow) of air that can be inhaled and exhaled. Spirometry is helpful in assessing breathing patterns that identify conditions such as asthma, pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis, and COPD. It is also helpful as part of a system of health surveillance, in which breathing patterns are measured over time.
Spirometry generates pneumotachographs, which are charts that plot the volume and flow of air coming in and out of the lungs from one inhalation and one exhalation.