Commentary: upper airways dysfunction

Reactive airways dysfunction syndrome.

Two types of occupational asthma have been identified and are distinguished by whether they appear after a latency period. Asthma without a latency period is best illustrated by irritant-induced asthma. The reactive airways dysfunction syndrome is a subset of irritant-induced asthma. Although case reports appeared in the literature before 1985, the term reactive airways dysfunction syndrome was...

Assessment of upper airways obstruction.

An indication of obstruction to the upper airways (trachea and larynx) may be obtained by calculating the ratio of the forced expired volume in one second to the peak expiratory flow rate (FEV(1)/PEFR). This index was found to be usually less than 10 in normal subjects (mean 7.3), and in patients with asthma (mean 6.9), chronic bronchitis (mean 7.7), or interstitial lung disease (mean 6.3). A s...

Flow-limitation and upper airways.

We read with interest in the February 1995 issue of The European Respiratory Journal the article by KOULOURIS et al. [1] "A simple method to detect expiratory flowlimitation during spontaneous breathing". The authors applied negative pressure at the mouth (-5 cmH2O) during a tidal expiration (NEP) to 22 patients with chronic obstructive lung disease. They conclude that this provides a simple, n...

Toxicology of the Nose and Upper Airways

Glucocorticoid Resistance in the Upper Respiratory Airways