Relationship between sites of airflow limitation and severity of chronic airflow obstruction

We studied the relationship between sites of airflow limitation and severity of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Pre- and postbronchodilator physiologic testing was performed in 30 subjects with chronic airflow obstruction (CAO). Pulmonary function, including the increase in maximal expiratory flow at 50% of vital capacity after helium-oxygen breathing (delta VEmax50), was reduced before and after inhalation of 1.3 mu mg of metaproterenol. Significant correlations were present between values for delta VEmax50 and measurements of expiratory flow (p < 0.001). In subjects with severe CAO (one-second forced expiratory volume less than or equal to 1.2 L; percentage ratio of one-second forced expiratory volume to forced vital capacity < 50%), delta VEmax50 was always abnormally decreased. An inverse relationship was present between initial delta VEmax50 and changes in delta VEmax50 after inhalation of metaproterenol (p < 0.001). These results suggest that the site of airflow limitation becomes progressively more peripheral as CAO worsens, and that severe CAO is usually associated with peripheral sites of airflow limitation.