Change in pulmonary function in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease stage 0 patients

Area of Science:

• Pulmonary Medicine
• Respiratory Physiology
• Diagnostic Imaging

Background:

• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a progressive lung disease.
• Early detection of COPD is crucial for timely intervention and management.
• Pulmonary function changes in very early stages (stage 0) require sensitive diagnostic tools.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate pulmonary function changes in individuals with stage 0 COPD.
• To evaluate the utility of impulse oscillometry (IOS) and spirometry in detecting early COPD.
• To identify specific parameters indicative of small airway dysfunction in stage 0 COPD.

Main Methods:

• Compared pulmonary function tests between 48 stage 0 COPD patients and 46 healthy controls.
• Utilized impulse oscillometry (IOS) to measure total respiratory impedance (Zrs) and respiratory resistance (Rrs).
• Assessed spirometric indexes including forced vital capacity and maximum expiratory flow-volume (MEFV) curves.

Main Results:

• Stage 0 COPD patients exhibited significantly decreased forced expiratory flow (FEF) at 75% and 50% vital capacity.
• IOS revealed significantly increased resonant frequency (Fres), total respiratory impedance (Z5), and airway resistance (R5, R5-R20) in stage 0 COPD.
• Reactance at 5 Hz (X5) was significantly lower in stage 0 COPD patients compared to healthy controls.

Conclusions:

• Pulmonary function, particularly small airway function, is altered in stage 0 COPD.
• MEFV curves and IOS parameters, including Fres, Z5, R5, R5-R20, and X5, are valuable for diagnosing stage 0 COPD.
• These findings support the use of IOS and MEFV analysis for early detection of COPD.