OBJECTIVE To examine respiratory functions of patients after open and laparoscopic cholecystectomy and to compare the advantages. METHODS Fifty five cases with cholelithiasis subjected to elective cholescystectomy were studied. The patients were divided into two groups. Open Cholecystectomy (OC) was performed on 27 cases (Group I), and Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy (LC) in 28 cases (Group II)....

PURPOSE The purpose of this study is to investigate how respiratory muscle strength correlates to cough capacity in patients with respiratory muscle weakness. MATERIALS AND METHODS Forty-five patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), 43 with cervical spinal cord injury (SCI), and 42 with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) were recruited. Pulmonary function tests including forced vital...

The pulmonary functions (FVC; FEV1; FEV1 /FVC% and MVV) were measured in healthy Pakistani adults (aged 20 to 40 years) at various altitudes. The subjects were divided into four groups (Group i residing at 500m above sea level; Group-li fresh arrivals at an altitude of 2250m; Group-Ill acclimatised to various altitudes above 3250m and Group-IV highlanders living above 2250m). The effects of age...

The aims of the present study were to identify prognostic factors for systemic sclerosis (SSc)-related interstitial lung disease and to clarify the possible causative role of manometric oesophageal involvement. Consecutive SSc patients underwent pulmonary function tests and oesophageal manometry. They were included in the study if pulmonary function tests were repeated >12 months after baseline...

We have calculated the effective time (t eff) of the forced expiratory spirogram in healthy non-smokers, in patients with simple chronic bronchitis, and in patients with chronic obstructive lung disease. Effective time was obtained by dividing the area underneath the forced expiratory spirogram by the forced vital capacity (FVC) and is equal to the time constant of lung emptying if the FVC-time...

This paper evaluates the usefulness of the hyperspectral imager (HSI) onboard Chinese HJ-1-A small satellite in vegetation mapping. Fractional vegetation cover (FVC) is an important surface microclimate parameter for characterizing land surface vegetation cover as well as the most effective indicator for assessing desertification and crop growth condition. The HJ-1/HSI data were used to calcula...

Objective: To determine whether air trapping (expressed as the percentage of air trapping relative to total lung volume [AT%]) correlates with clinical and functional parameters in children with obliterative bronchiolitis (OB). Methods: CT scans of 19 children with OB were post-processed for AT% quantification with the use of a fixed threshold of −950 HU (AT%950) and of thresholds selected with...

We hypothesized that structural airway remodeling contributes to airways hyperresponsiveness (AHR) in asthma. Small, medium, and large airways were analyzed by computed tomography in 21 asthmatic volunteers under baseline conditions (FEV1 = 64% predicted) and after maximum response to albuterol (FEV1 = 76% predicted). The difference in pulmonary function between baseline and albuterol was an es...

In treatment trials in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), there is an unmet need for an accurate primary end point. A European-wide consensus exists that mortality is not a practicable primary end point for the demonstration of beneficial treatment effects in IPF. Serial, 6-min-walk test data are confounded by factors other than progression of interstitial lung disease. Alone among other cand...