Lung Function Results

[anonymous]

I have been enjoying looking thru this site and reading what everyone has to say. It's comforting to come across so many honest stories from people in similar positions. I'm glad I found this site and I will continue to check in. I notice that everyone relates to their lung function in FEV1 %. This is how we always received results from childrens hosp but now at the adult hosp, they only say FEV/FVC in Litres which for me is harder to understand. I have been told that FEV1% is comparing with someone without CF of the same age, height, weight etc which isn't what they want to do at the adult hosp. Just wondering if you know why most people talk in %. My daughter's FEV1 was 67% in June 2003.Since then it has been in Litres. In Aug 03 it was FEV 2,25/2,87 and now April 04 it is 1,26/1,79. I see that it is a significant drop but I dont understand it properly which frustrates me. Each time the test is done, it is harder to remember so many numbers and even though I am told not to worry about %, I would like to know if I can convert these figures so that I can determine where she is at and why everything I read refers to %. I would like to be educated on this subject and I hope you can help. ThanksNene

 

[anonymous]

all you do is divide you daughters fev1 by the predicted fev1 on this table. http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=10058 im not sure if her age will be up there but if it isnt just do a search under 'spirometry prediction' etc.

 

[anonymous]

Speaking of FEV1 and such. Is your FEV1%age an indicator of how much lung capacity you have? I've been curious about this & asked my doc and he said it's Forced Expiratory Volume (I already knew that) and it measures the volume in which you exhale forcefully, well, that didn't really answer my question, from looking at a spirometry print out, is there someplace that says my lungs are full of scar tissue XXX amt & XXX amt of lung space is clear??? Possibly this is only clear thru an XRay or CT Scan or MRI???Please answer only if you're sure you're correct. Thanks<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif" border="0">

 

[anonymous]

basically, for normal people your fev1 peaks around your late teens. as you get older after that it starts to lessen. it doesnt affect your health in anyway, until you get really old. spirometry cant tell exactly whats in your lungs [an x-ray will], but it can tell how much air you have in there, and how much you can blow out. fev1 is how fast/much you can blow out within a second. Kylie

 

[anonymous]

Thanks for the response, Kylie. That's kind of what I thought. Sometimes I see where people post their lung percentage here & didn't know if they were referring to their FEV1 or the percentage of usable lung space (if that makes sense).<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif" border="0">