Document Detail


Detection of upper airway obstruction with spirometry results and the flow-volume loop: a comparison of quantitative and visual inspection criteria.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  19327182     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
BACKGROUND: There are important gaps in our understanding of the epidemiology and diagnosis of upper-airway obstruction. METHODS: We examined the diagnostic value of several criteria for predicting upper-airway obstruction, and we measured the frequency of detecting upper-airway obstruction via quantitative and visual assessment of flow-volume loops. We studied 4 quantitative and 3 visual criteria for their ability to detect upper-airway obstruction. The quantitative criteria were: ratio of forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV(1)) to maximum expiratory flow (MEF) > 10 mL/L/min; ratio of the flow at the mid-point of the forced expiratory maneuver (MEF(50%)) to the flow at the mid-point of the forced inspiratory maneuver (MIF(50%)) < 0.3 or > 1; MIF(50%) < 100 L/min; and FEV(1)/FEV(0.5) > 1.5. The visual criteria were: presence of a plateau; biphasic shape; and oscillations. The accepted standard tests for diagnosing upper-airway obstruction were bronchoscopy, laryngoscopy, and chest or neck computed tomogram. We considered 979 consecutive flow-volume loops from the Cleveland Clinic's pulmonary function laboratory. We calculated the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of the individual criteria and an aggregate criterion for predicting upper-airway obstruction. RESULTS: We excluded 504 flow-volume loops because the workups for those patients did not include any of the accepted standard tests for diagnosing upper-airway obstruction, so there were 475 eligible flow-volume loops (48.6% of the 979 loops considered). Thirty-six (7.5%) of the 475 workups that included an accepted standard test reported a cause of upper-airway obstruction. The aggregate sensitivity for detecting upper-airway obstruction was 69.4%. Receiver-operating-curve analysis found that the individual criteria had poor diagnostic performance (area under the curve < 0.522) but that a newly proposed aggregate criterion performed better (area under the curve 0.605). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of reported upper-airway obstruction was 7.5%. The quantitative criteria showed low sensitivity for detecting upper-airway obstruction but exceeded that of visual criteria. The aggregate criterion increased the sensitivity to 69.4%, which suggests the need for additional criteria to help predict upper-airway obstruction.
Authors:
Ariel M Modrykamien; Ravindra Gudavalli; Kevin McCarthy; Xiaobo Liu; James K Stoller
Publication Detail:
Type:  Comparative Study; Journal Article    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Respiratory care     Volume:  54     ISSN:  0020-1324     ISO Abbreviation:  Respir Care     Publication Date:  2009 Apr 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2009-03-30     Completed Date:  2009-06-11     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  7510357     Medline TA:  Respir Care     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  474-9     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Respiratory Institute, A90, Cleveland Clinic, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland OH 44195, USA. modryka@ccf.org
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Asthma / diagnosis*,  physiopathology
Female
Humans
Logistic Models
Lung Diseases, Obstructive / diagnosis*,  physiopathology
Male
Middle Aged
Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / diagnosis*,  physiopathology
ROC Curve
Sarcoidosis, Pulmonary / diagnosis,  physiopathology
Sensitivity and Specificity
Spirometry
Comments/Corrections
Comment In:
Respir Care. 2009 Apr;54(4):448-9   [PMID:  19327175 ]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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