About Kathleen MacNaughton Expertise As a registered nurse and health educator, as well as a person living with nasal allergies, eczema, allergic asthma, and eye allergies, I can answer questions related to allergy symptoms, triggers, diagnosis, and treatment.
Experience I have lived with severe nasal, eye, and skin allergies all of my life. I also have allergic asthma. In addition, I have been an RN for more than 30 years and have spent the last 10 years as a consumer health educator, both offline and online, specializing in the areas of allergies and asthma.
Publications About.com (asthma), HealthCentral.com (asthma and allergy networks), RhinocortAqua.com, EverydayKidz.com
Education/Credentials Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Syracuse University.
Question Dear Kathleen
I just had a spirometer done but did not get what it means
i hope you can explain these to me
I am a 54 female 46killograma and 150cm tall
my reading is as follows
fvc']; measured 4.59, predicted was 2.62 percentage predicted 175%
fev5; measured was 2.07 ,predicted1.76 percentage of predicted=117%
fev1;3.02 measured, predicted was 2.17percentage139%
fev1%g measured was 65.7 predicted 94.9 percentage 69%
could you please inform me what this means
Star
Answer Hi Helen,
I'll try to help. :-)
First off, remember that you ALWAYS have the right to keep asking questions at the doctor's office or lab until you get answers you can understand.
Here's what each of the measures mean:
-- The FEV1 is the amount of air you can blow out fast from a full inhalation in 1 second. (FEV = Forced Expiratory Volume) In healthy lungs, almost 100% of the air should be able to be expelled within 1 second.
-- The FVC is the total amount of air you can blow out from one full breath. (FVC = Forced Vital Capacity)
Most tests will examine those 2 values in a ratio. The reference I looked at said that some testing does compare actual to predicted values as you list above, but that a better measure is to compare your values against a RANGE of normal, particularly looking at the low end of normal. I think the reading you list as "fev1%g" may be the ratio, but I'm not sure.
A spirometry reading usually shows one of four main patterns:
* Normal
* An obstructive pattern
* A restrictive pattern
* A combined obstructive / restrictive pattern
The ratio number should be above 0.7 (70%). Looks like you are right on the brink as far as that goes, but the fact that both your FEV1 and FVC are more than predicted is a bit confusing.
Also, I'm not clear on why you had this test. Was it to help diagnose asthma or COPD? COPD is usually thought to be unlikely if your FEV1 is 80% or more than predicted.
In short, I really think you will need to call your doctor and ask for an interpretation of these findings. Sorry I can't be more helpful.
