Shunt in the diagnosis of initial lung lesion in smokers

Cigarette smoking is an important risk factor for all respiratory tract diseases. Unfortunately, the symptoms develop slowly, thus patients feel the consequences of the slowly developing inflammation too late. The inflammation first develops in the area of respiratory bronchioles. In this stage, the disease is asymptomatic. The study included a sample of 31 smokers, mean age 36.38 years, with normal spirometry indices, acid-base status and arterial blood gases. The mean smoking index was 11.28 smoking/years. All subjects were healthy, without any subjective health problems or disease indicators. The aim was to define dead lung area (V/Q) as an early indicator of changes in smokers. Study results demonstrated the mean shunt value in smokers of 8.25%, which showed positive correlation with smoking. The shunt size yielded negative correlation with the forced expiratory volume in one second and midexpiratory flow in smokers. In conclusion, determination of lung shunt is a simple method that is sensitive enough in the diagnosis of initial lung lesion due to cigarette smoking.