Maximal voluntary inspiratory breath holding time test in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Abstract

Introduction: Recent studies have demonstrated that maximal voluntary breath holding time test(MVIBHT) was associated to pulmonary function tests in patients with obstructive ventilatory defects. The aim of our study was to correlate the breath-holding times with pulmonary function tests in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and to determine if MVIBHT could be an alternative of 6 minutes walk test (6MWT). Patients and Methods: A cross sectional study including Stable COPD male patients is currently ongoing in our pneumology department. Patients with respiratory comorbidities (asthma, cystic fibrosis, lung cancer), severe or instable cardiac diseases, were excluded. 6MWT and plethysmography were performed according to the recommendations of American Thoracic Society. For MVIBHT collection, the subject was required to make a maximum expiration followed by a maximum inspiration and to hold the breath as long as possible at maximum inspiratory level. This procedure was repeated three times. The best value was used for further analysis. Results: A total of 30 patients (mean age: 65.9±11.27 mean FEV1: 55.6±25.5%) were included in the study. The mean values of MVIBHT and 6MWT were respectively 21.94.± 7.87s and 383.16 ± 148.84m. We found positive and significant correlations between MVIBHT and FVC (L) (r=0.63; p=0.02), MVIBHT and FEV1(L) (r=0.518; p=0.02) and between MVIBHT and DLCO/VA (r=0.59.p=0.025). The MVIBHT was significally correlated to the distance in the 6MWT (r=0.62, p Conclusions: Preliminary data showed that MVIBHT was correlated to FEV1, CVF and DLCO/VA. The MVIBHT may be a simple test to evaluate functional capacities in patients with COPD