The veterans administration-army cooperative study of pulmonary function: II. The lung volume and its subdivisions in normal men

Abstract

Standardized procedures for the determination of the compartments of lung volume are described, as formulated by a Veterans Administration-Army Cooperative Group for pulmonary function testing. Lung volume studies of 422 normal men were contributed by fifteen participating pulmonary function laboratories. The twenty-one variables measured were tabulated and analyzed with the aid of an electronic computer. No significant differences were found between measurements made with helium dilution and open circuit nitrogen washout methods. Data obtained using both methods were combined. The mean values and standard deviations were calculated for each measurement and each measurement was correlated with the other twenty measurements. Total lung capacity and functional residual capacity correlated with height and were unrelated to age. Regression equations for their prediction from height were derived. Residual volume correlated with both height and age. A regression equation to predict residual volume from height and age was derived. The ratio of residual volume to total lung capacity (RV: TLC) correlated only with age so that a regression for its prediction from age was derived. A nomogram was constructed for the prediction of total lung capacity (TLC), functional residual capacity (FRC), residual volume (RV) and RV: TLC on the basis of these regression equations. This nomogram was augmented by previously derived regression equations so that it allows simultaneous prediction of the forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volumes (FEV 0.5, FEV 1.0) and maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV F ), as well as the subdivisions of lung volume. The regression equations for the subdivisions of lung volume were validated by using two sets of independent data reported in the literature.