A 2-min walk test (2MWT) was first proposed by Butland et al in 1982 and was reported to be a valid test in COPD patients. However, the statistical method was in doubt as no p value had been mentioned in the whole study and only 13 subjects were recruited. A small-scale study (n = 9) […]
Patients with COPD experience a wide variation in their levels of disability. Rehabilitation is recommended for COPD patients with moderate-to-severe disease who are aiming at reducing symptoms, improving quality of life, and increasing physical and emotional participation in everyday activities. Baseline and outcome assessments should be made in order to (1) quantify the patient’s functional […]
During the initial setting of BiPAP, most of our patients seemed unable to tolerate an I PAP of more than 10 cm H20. Acclimation and practice seemed also to be important factors during nasal ventilation, frequently mentioned in negative pressure ventilation (NPV).-’ This observation is supported by the study of Strumpf and coworkers in which […]
In this study, we used surface electrodes to record EMGdi. Doubt could be raised that the EMG might be contaminated by the activities of intercostal or abdominal muscles; nevertheless, this kind of contamination can be negligible in both normal subjects and COPD patients. Actually, good correlation between surface and esophageal EMG has been described by […]
The characteristics of 11 patients are demonstrated in Table 1. All were male with an average age of 69 ± 5 years. Average FEV, was 0.71 ± 0.21 L (28 percent ± 9 percent of predicted values). Mild hypoxemia (Pa02, 66 ± 13.7 mm Hg) and minimal hypercapnea (PaC02, 45.1 ± 10.8 mm Hg) were […]
The signals of RC and AB were replayed to form “Lissajous figures” (Fig 1) on software (Lotus version 2). A “phase angle” 0 was calculated as an index of TAA. 0 can be measured from a Lissajous figure, in which AB and RC motion are plotted on the x and у axis, respectively, with time […]
All the experiments were conducted in a well-isolated room. Recording devices were set up as in Figure 1. Oxygen saturation (Sa02) was monitored by a pulse oximeter (Ohmeda Biox 3700, Englewood, Colo). End-tidal CO, (etC02) was monitored continuously via a nasal cannula (during iron lung ventilation) or a small tube attached to the nasal mask […]