ERJ Open ResearchPub Date : 2025-09-08eCollection Date: 2025-09-01DOI: 10.1183/23120541.00775-2024
Miguel Ariza-Prota, Javier Pérez-Pallarés, Emanuela Barisione, Juan José Cruz-Rueda, Sammy Onyancha, Daniela Usturoi, Michele De Santis, Esperanza Salcedo-Lobera, Diego Ferrer-Pargada, Nadia Corcione, Alberto Caballero-Vázquez, Ignacio Rodríguez-Blanco, Héctor Torres-Rivas, Luis Fernández-Fernández, Francisco Javier Velasco-Albendea, Marta García-Clemente, Francisco López-González
{"title":"Enhancing diagnostic precision: a multicentric study of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial mediastinal cryobiopsy in lymphoproliferative disorders.","authors":"Miguel Ariza-Prota, Javier Pérez-Pallarés, Emanuela Barisione, Juan José Cruz-Rueda, Sammy Onyancha, Daniela Usturoi, Michele De Santis, Esperanza Salcedo-Lobera, Diego Ferrer-Pargada, Nadia Corcione, Alberto Caballero-Vázquez, Ignacio Rodríguez-Blanco, Héctor Torres-Rivas, Luis Fernández-Fernández, Francisco Javier Velasco-Albendea, Marta García-Clemente, Francisco López-González","doi":"10.1183/23120541.00775-2024","DOIUrl":"10.1183/23120541.00775-2024","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The diagnostic accuracy of endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) for the diagnosis of lymphoma has a low overall sensitivity. The lack of tissue architecture obtained by cytological needles decreases the diagnostic accuracy for diagnosis and subtyping of <i>de novo</i> and relapsed mediastinal lymphomas. This study compares the sensitivity of EBUS-TBNA and endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial mediastinal cryobiopsy (EBUS-TMC) for both initial lymphoma diagnosis and recurrent cases, analyses safety, and evaluates the number of mediastinoscopies that could potentially be avoided due to this novel technique.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A multicentre retrospective observational study conducted on 40 patients who underwent both EBUS-TBNA and EBUS-TMC in the same procedure in which a definitive diagnosis of lymphoma was obtained from January 2023 to January 2024. EBUS-TBNA and EBUS-TMC were performed in the same lymph node station.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The overall sensitivity of EBUS-TMC was significantly higher compared to EBUS-TBNA alone and EBUS-TBNA+flow cytometry (95% <i>versus</i> 15% <i>versus</i> 25%). In new lymphoma cases, the sensitivity of EBUS-TMC surpassed that of EBUS-TBNA and EBUS-TBNA+flow cytometry (92% <i>versus</i> 15% <i>versus</i> 14%). In recurrent cases, EBUS-TMC showed a sensitivity of 100%, while EBUS-TBNA and EBUS-TBNA+flow cytometry had lower yields of 14% and 41%, respectively. No complications were reported.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>EBUS-TMC demonstrates superior sensitivity compared to EBUS-TBNA in diagnosing and subtyping lymphoma, both in suspected new cases and recurrences. This technique reduces the need for procedural repetitions and avoids more invasive and costly interventions such as mediastinoscopy.</p>","PeriodicalId":11739,"journal":{"name":"ERJ Open Research","volume":"11 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12415727/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145029265","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ERJ Open ResearchPub Date : 2025-09-08eCollection Date: 2025-09-01DOI: 10.1183/23120541.00990-2024
Mara Paneroni, Beatrice Salvi, Carla Simonelli, Massimo Venturelli, Michele Vitacca
{"title":"Does quadriceps contractile fatigue influence rehabilitation outcomes in COPD-chronic respiratory failure patients?","authors":"Mara Paneroni, Beatrice Salvi, Carla Simonelli, Massimo Venturelli, Michele Vitacca","doi":"10.1183/23120541.00990-2024","DOIUrl":"10.1183/23120541.00990-2024","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>In patients with moderate COPD, response to pulmonary rehabilitation including exercise training varies according to the presence of peripheral muscle fatigue (pMF) of quadriceps. This study investigates the role of pMF in predicting pulmonary rehabilitation outcomes in more severe COPD patients who have already developed chronic respiratory failure (COPD-CRF).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A <i>post hoc</i> analysis of a prospective randomised controlled trial was performed at Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri Lumezzane (Brescia, Italy), involving 30 COPD-CRF patients undergoing a pulmonary rehabilitation programme comprising 20 endurance training sessions. Pre-to-post assessment included a 6-min walk test (6MWT), Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), Barthel dyspnoea index, and quality-of-life questionnaires. We assessed the contractile pMF of quadriceps <i>via</i> electrical nerve stimulation pre-to-post a cycling fatiguing task, using the change in potentiated quadriceps twitch for pMF.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>At baseline, 12 (40%) patients developed pMF (pMF group), while 18 (60%) did not (no-pMF group). The pMF group had a lower baseline 6-min walk distance (6MWD) with greater FSS and lower quadriceps thickness. After pulmonary rehabilitation, no change in contractile pMF was found in the overall group, but pMF ameliorated only in the pMF group. The pMF group had a greater increase in 6MWD (71.67±53.64 m <i>versus</i> 35.28±36.01 m, p<0.05) and was more likely to exceed the minimal clinically important difference in 6MWD (OR 6.25, 95% CI 1.05-37.07; p=0.044). Other pulmonary rehabilitation outcomes improved similarly between groups.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Baseline quadriceps pMF predicted greater improvement in the 6MWT in COPD-CRF patients, suggesting it may be a new target for predicting pulmonary rehabilitation outcomes and optimising training protocols.</p>","PeriodicalId":11739,"journal":{"name":"ERJ Open Research","volume":"11 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12415736/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145029225","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ERJ Open ResearchPub Date : 2025-09-08eCollection Date: 2025-09-01DOI: 10.1183/23120541.00023-2025
Caroline Stridsman, Helena Backman, Lowie E G W Vanfleteren, Anna Asarnoj, Henrik Ljungberg, Anne Lindberg, Apostolos Bossios, Jon R Konradsen
{"title":"Preserved ratio impaired spirometry, dysanapsis and airflow obstruction with low forced expiratory volume in 1 s in childhood asthma.","authors":"Caroline Stridsman, Helena Backman, Lowie E G W Vanfleteren, Anna Asarnoj, Henrik Ljungberg, Anne Lindberg, Apostolos Bossios, Jon R Konradsen","doi":"10.1183/23120541.00023-2025","DOIUrl":"10.1183/23120541.00023-2025","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Airway obstruction is a characteristic spirometric finding in asthma but the clinical significance of other abnormal spirometric patterns is less well described. We aimed to explore pre- and post-bronchodilator (BD) prevalences and clinical characteristics of preserved ratio impaired spirometry (PRISm), dysanapsis and airflow obstruction with low forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV<sub>1</sub>) in children diagnosed with asthma.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We extracted specialist care data (clinical and spirometry) from the Swedish National Airway Register (n=3301, age 5-17 years). Normal spirometry was defined as FEV<sub>1</sub>≥ lower limit of normal (LLN) and FEV<sub>1</sub>/forced vital capacity (FVC)≥LLN. PRISm was defined as forced FEV<sub>1</sub>< LLN and FEV<sub>1</sub>/FVC≥LLN, dysanapsis as FEV<sub>1</sub>/FVC<LLN and FEV<sub>1</sub>≥LLN, and airflow obstruction with reduced FEV<sub>1</sub> as FEV<sub>1</sub>/FVC<LLN and FEV<sub>1</sub><LLN. The BD response (BDR) was calculated as ((post-BD(L)-pre-BD(L))/predicted (L))×100. Values >10% were considered positive (BDRpos). Groups were compared using parametric tests and associations were explored using logistic regression analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Pre-/post-BD PRISm, dysanapsis and obstruction with low FEV<sub>1</sub> were identified in 9%/7%, 10%/4% and 8%/2%, respectively. Compared with normal spirometry, all three groups were associated with older age and BDRpos in pre-BD analyses. Furthermore, dysanapsis was associated with overweight/obesity and obstruction with low FEV<sub>1</sub> with uncontrolled asthma and more treatment.</p><p><strong>Interpretation: </strong>In this paediatric asthma cohort, PRISm and dysanapsis were associated with BDRpos and they were at least as common as airflow obstruction with reduced FEV<sub>1</sub>. These spirometric phenotypes should be addressed in the management of childhood asthma and testing of BDR should be considered also in children with PRISm and dysanapsis.</p>","PeriodicalId":11739,"journal":{"name":"ERJ Open Research","volume":"11 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12415717/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145029245","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ERJ Open ResearchPub Date : 2025-09-08eCollection Date: 2025-09-01DOI: 10.1183/23120541.01103-2024
Ntombizodwa Ndlovu, David Rees, Deepna Govind Lakhoo, Jill Murray
{"title":"The diagnostic accuracy of lymph node silicosis for pulmonary silicosis in South African gold miners.","authors":"Ntombizodwa Ndlovu, David Rees, Deepna Govind Lakhoo, Jill Murray","doi":"10.1183/23120541.01103-2024","DOIUrl":"10.1183/23120541.01103-2024","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Lymph node silicosis (LNS) may be found when investigating lung and mediastinal diseases. Co-occurrence of LNS and pulmonary silicosis (PS) has been described but no studies have investigated the diagnostic accuracy of LNS for PS, the aim of this study.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This cross-sectional study included South African miners with exclusive gold-mining employment who had autopsy examinations from 1975 to 2018. Routinely recorded pathologist-diagnosed LNS and PS and occupational histories were retrieved from the PATHAUT database. Pulmonary silicosis was the reference standard. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV) and summary diagnostic accuracy were calculated overall and by PS severity and employment duration.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of the 69 802 miners, the prevalences of LNS and PS were 39.2% (n=27 373) and 17.7% (n=12 345), respectively. There were 24.1% false-positive LNS tests. Sensitivity was 85.2% (95% CI 84.6-85.6), but specificity was lower (70.7%, 95% CI 70.3-71.0). The PPV and NPV were 38.4% (95% CI 37.9-39.0) and 95.7% (95% CI 95.5-95.9), respectively. Sensitivity increased and specificity decreased with increasing employment duration.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our findings are consistent with LNS occurring at concentrations of respirable crystalline silica too low to cause PS and possibly being a portent of PS. LNS had deficits as a diagnostic test for PS. The low PPV raises uncertainty about the presence of PS in patients with LNS. LNS may perform better in populations with higher prevalence of silicosis, for example in patients with clinically suspected PS.</p>","PeriodicalId":11739,"journal":{"name":"ERJ Open Research","volume":"11 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12415718/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145029352","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ERJ Open ResearchPub Date : 2025-09-08eCollection Date: 2025-09-01DOI: 10.1183/23120541.00648-2025
Beatriz Herrero-Cortina, Victoria Alcaraz-Serrano, Héctor Sanz-Fraile, Pablo Cubero-Marín, Marta Marín-Oto, Elena Gimeno-Santos
{"title":"Addressing sputum challenges in bronchiectasis: high-flow therapy as a game-changer for airway clearance care.","authors":"Beatriz Herrero-Cortina, Victoria Alcaraz-Serrano, Héctor Sanz-Fraile, Pablo Cubero-Marín, Marta Marín-Oto, Elena Gimeno-Santos","doi":"10.1183/23120541.00648-2025","DOIUrl":"10.1183/23120541.00648-2025","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b>High flow therapy is a true game-changer in airway clearance care for bronchiectasis. By providing superior physiological support and integrating seamlessly with ACTs, it improves tolerability for patients and optimises clinical outcomes.</b> https://bit.ly/44jcdWz.</p>","PeriodicalId":11739,"journal":{"name":"ERJ Open Research","volume":"11 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12415722/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145029283","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ERJ Open ResearchPub Date : 2025-09-08eCollection Date: 2025-09-01DOI: 10.1183/23120541.01158-2024
Lucie Zhang, Charles Bokobza, Raymond Wu, Romain Verron, Clairelyne Dupin, Mathilde Le Brun, Camille Couffignal, Camille Taillé
{"title":"Validation and cross-cultural insights of the French translation of the Severe Asthma Questionnaire.","authors":"Lucie Zhang, Charles Bokobza, Raymond Wu, Romain Verron, Clairelyne Dupin, Mathilde Le Brun, Camille Couffignal, Camille Taillé","doi":"10.1183/23120541.01158-2024","DOIUrl":"10.1183/23120541.01158-2024","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b>Demonstrating consistent psychometric properties with the English version, the French translation of the SAQ can be used by clinicians to assess French-speaking patients with severe asthma and understand the disease's impact on quality of life</b> https://bit.ly/4bY6LMc.</p>","PeriodicalId":11739,"journal":{"name":"ERJ Open Research","volume":"11 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12415725/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145029391","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ERJ Open ResearchPub Date : 2025-09-08eCollection Date: 2025-09-01DOI: 10.1183/23120541.01276-2024
Delphine Vauterin, Frauke Van Vaerenbergh, Maxim Grymonprez, Guy Joos, Lies Lahousse
{"title":"Predictors of mortality and hospitalised exacerbations in obstructive airway diseases.","authors":"Delphine Vauterin, Frauke Van Vaerenbergh, Maxim Grymonprez, Guy Joos, Lies Lahousse","doi":"10.1183/23120541.01276-2024","DOIUrl":"10.1183/23120541.01276-2024","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>In Belgium, age-standardised hospital admission and mortality rates for asthma and COPD are higher than the European average. Understanding the factors that lead to a hospitalised exacerbation and/or mortality is needed to optimise patient management.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Patients ≥18 years old obtaining two claims for drugs for obstructive airway diseases (ATC code R03) in 1 year between 2017 and 2022 were identified in Belgian nationwide claims-based data. A multivariable Cox model was used to investigate predictors of all-cause mortality and hospitalised exacerbation.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Among 1 006 968 patients included in this study, 39 214 patients (3.9%) had a hospitalised exacerbation during follow-up and 145 021 patients (14.4%) died. Next to age, sex, Charlson comorbidity index and socioeconomic status, significant predictors for mortality were being frail (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 2.09, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.06-2.12), heavy overuse of short-acting bronchodilators (SABDs) (≥6 packages per year, aHR 1.81, 95% CI 1.78-1.84), current smoking (aHR 1.64, 95% CI 1.61-1.66) and a history of ≥2 outpatient exacerbations in the previous year (aHR 1.52, 95% CI 1.49-1.54). A recent hospitalised exacerbation (aHR 5.67, 95% CI 5.51-5.84), current smoking (aHR 3.69, 95% CI 3.60-3.78), heavy overuse of SABDs (aHR 3.15, 95%CI 3.08-3.23) and being frail (aHR 1.07, 95% CI 1.03-1.10) were important additional risk factors for hospitalised exacerbation.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Previous exacerbations, current smoking, frailty and overuse of SABDs were significantly associated with hospitalised exacerbations and mortality in patients with asthma and/or COPD. The results of this nationwide cohort study highlight the importance of achieving disease control, smoking prevention and tackling frailty in primary care.</p>","PeriodicalId":11739,"journal":{"name":"ERJ Open Research","volume":"11 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12415753/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145029266","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ERJ Open ResearchPub Date : 2025-09-08eCollection Date: 2025-09-01DOI: 10.1183/23120541.01285-2024
Fabiano Francisco de Lima, Juliana de Melo Batista Dos Santos, Rosana Câmara Agondi, David Halen Araújo Pinheiro, Yan Anderson Pires de Oliveira, Regina Maria de Carvalho-Pinto, Celso Ricardo Fernandes de Carvalho
{"title":"Minimal clinically important difference in physical activity in people with asthma.","authors":"Fabiano Francisco de Lima, Juliana de Melo Batista Dos Santos, Rosana Câmara Agondi, David Halen Araújo Pinheiro, Yan Anderson Pires de Oliveira, Regina Maria de Carvalho-Pinto, Celso Ricardo Fernandes de Carvalho","doi":"10.1183/23120541.01285-2024","DOIUrl":"10.1183/23120541.01285-2024","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Previous studies have shown that increasing physical activity in daily life (PADL) improves asthma clinical control and quality of life. However, the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) to promote those improvements remains unclear. The aim of this study was to estimate the MCID for PADL in people with moderate-to-severe asthma.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Data from consecutive individuals with moderate-to-severe asthma who completed an 8-week (once weekly) face-to-face behavioural intervention to increase PADL were included to compute the MCID. The MCID was estimated based on the number of steps·day<sup>-1</sup> and time in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) (min·day<sup>-1</sup>), which included analyses <i>via</i> anchor-based methods (linear regression and receiver operating characteristic curves) and distribution-based methods (half of the standard deviation and the standard error of the mean). The pooled MCID was estimated by calculating the weighted arithmetic mean of the results from the anchor-based (Asthma Control Questionnaire and Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire) and distribution-based methods.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The MCID estimates for steps·day<sup>-1</sup> ranged from 446 to 1995, which were derived from anchor-based and distribution-based methods. With respect to MVPA, MCID estimates ranged from 2 to 13 min·day<sup>-1</sup>, which were also derived from both methods. The pooled MCIDs were 1413 for steps·day<sup>-1</sup> and 8 min·day<sup>-1</sup> for MVPA.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The MCIDs proposed in this study are 1413 steps for steps·day<sup>-1</sup> and 8 min of MVPA per day in people with asthma. These values can be used to interpret the efficacy of intervention programmes to improve health outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":11739,"journal":{"name":"ERJ Open Research","volume":"11 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12415719/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145029205","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ERJ Open ResearchPub Date : 2025-09-08eCollection Date: 2025-09-01DOI: 10.1183/23120541.00833-2025
Mathieu Marillier
{"title":"On the effectiveness of rehabilitative exercise training in COPD: why does contractile muscle fatigue matter?","authors":"Mathieu Marillier","doi":"10.1183/23120541.00833-2025","DOIUrl":"10.1183/23120541.00833-2025","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b>Is fatigue necessarily bad? Contractile muscle fatigue is a biomarker of effectiveness of rehabilitative exercise training in COPD, and this applies to patients with chronic respiratory failure.</b> https://bit.ly/44RG0XW.</p>","PeriodicalId":11739,"journal":{"name":"ERJ Open Research","volume":"11 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12415723/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145029284","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ERJ Open ResearchPub Date : 2025-09-08eCollection Date: 2025-09-01DOI: 10.1183/23120541.00038-2025
Ben Knox-Brown, Chara Alexiou, Sanja Stanojevic, Karl P Sylvester
{"title":"The utility of spirometry and single breath gas transfer measurements to identify low total lung capacity.","authors":"Ben Knox-Brown, Chara Alexiou, Sanja Stanojevic, Karl P Sylvester","doi":"10.1183/23120541.00038-2025","DOIUrl":"10.1183/23120541.00038-2025","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Measurement of total lung capacity (TLC) requires large and expensive equipment. We aimed to investigate whether spirometric restriction and low alveolar volume measured by single breath gas transfer (<i>V</i> <sub>A</sub>) can be used to identify those with a low TLC.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We retrospectively analysed data from adults referred to Cambridge University Hospitals between January 2016 and December 2023. We investigated the utility of spirometric restriction (forced vital capacity (FVC) < lower limit of normal (LLN) with forced expiratory volume in 1 s /FVC ≥LLN) and reduced <i>V</i> <sub>A</sub> (<LLN), to discriminate low TLC measured by plethysmography (TLC<sub>pleth</sub> <LLN). We assessed agreement between definitions using the Cohen's kappa coefficient and the discriminative ability of spirometric restriction and reduced <i>V</i> <sub>A</sub> to identify TLC<sub>pleth</sub> <LLN.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Data from 7923 patients were included. The majority (94%) of patients were of European ancestry, 51% were female. Mean age was 58 years. 11% of patients had a TLC<sub>pleth</sub> <LLN, of which 27% also had spirometric restriction, and 95% had a <i>V</i> <sub>A</sub> <LLN. Agreement between spirometric restriction and TLC<sub>pleth</sub> <LLN was fair (κ=0.37). Spirometric restriction had low sensitivity (27%) but high specificity (99%) for discriminating TLC<sub>pleth</sub> <LLN. Agreement between <i>V</i> <sub>A</sub> <LLN and TLC<sub>pleth</sub> <LLN was substantial (κ=0.63). <i>V</i> <sub>A</sub> <LLN had good sensitivity (95%) and specificity (89%) for discriminating TLC<sub>pleth</sub> <LLN, except for in patients with the most severe airflow obstruction.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>A FVC in the healthy range is an effective tool for ruling out restriction. Low <i>V</i> <sub>A</sub> can be used to accurately identify those with a low TLC, negating the need for formal measurement of static lung volumes when identifying restrictive lung disease.</p>","PeriodicalId":11739,"journal":{"name":"ERJ Open Research","volume":"11 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12415716/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145029395","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}