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IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF DISEASE USING PULMONARY FUNCTION TESTS
Citation:
Dye, J A. AND D. L. COSTA. IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF DISEASE USING PULMONARY FUNCTION TESTS. Chapter 23, Lesley G. King (ed.), Textbook of Respiratory Disease in Dogs and Cats. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, , 157-175, (2004).
Impact/Purpose:
to objectively define functional deficits in individuals with respiratory disease
Description:
Abstract
Pulmonary function testing is used routinely in human medicine to objectively define functional deficits in individuals with respiratory disease. Despite the fact that respiratory disease is a common problem in veterinary medicine, evaluation of the small animal patient is often limited to (1) localizing disease to the respiratory tract and (2) to identifying underlying infectious, inflammatory, or neoplastic processes. Until recently, clinically acceptable methods to quantitatively assess the respiratory system or to identify pathophysiologic processes in small animals on a functional basis has been limited. Therefore, the purpose of this lecture is to provide an overview of the value of pulmonary function testing in small animals. If non-invasive functional assessments were more available, one could better establish clinical spectrums of respiratory disease in companion animals. Furthermore, one could also define rates of natural disease progression (or resolution), distinguish between restrictive and obstructive disease syndromes, and if airway obstruction was evident, one could assess whether the obstruction was reversible. Similarly, one could establish whether increased airway responsiveness was present. Most importantly, we could objectively document response to therapy. This information would be especially useful to better understand several particularly challenging disease syndromes in small animals (e.g., canine chronic bronchitis, feline bronchopulmonary disease, and interstitial/fibrotic lung diseases). (This abstract does not reflect US EPA policy).