Frequency and correlates of the saw-tooth pattern of flow-volume curves in an epidemiological survey.
The object of this report was to assess the possibility of identifying saw-tooth patterns on flow-volume curves in men aged 28 to 58 years. We studied the frequency of these patterns and their relationships with two indirect signs of UAO increase in FEV1/PEF and FEF50%/FIF50% ratios--as well as with clinical and functional data. Twenty-six of the 360 subjects surveyed, ie, 7.2 percent, had flow oscillations in the inspiratory and/or expiratory part of flow-volume curves, corresponding to the definition of the saw-tooth pattern. We observed significant relationships between the saw-tooth pattern and the mean FEV1/PEF ratio. In 97 subjects, the proportion of those with saw-tooth patterns was 13.4 percent, and the mean FEF50%/FIF50% ratio was 1.53 in those with the pattern vs 1.07 in those without it. These results show that the saw-tooth pattern was not rare in these men.
Neukirch
F
F
INSERM Unit 226, Paris, France.
Weitzenblum
E
E
Liard
R
R
Korobaeff
M
M
Henry
C
C
Orvoën-Frija
E
E
Kauffmann
F
F
D000328:Adult; D005540:Forced Expiratory Flow Rates; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010366:Peak Expiratory Flow Rate; D012123:Pulmonary Ventilation; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000503:physiopathology; D012913:Snoring / Q000503:physiopathology; D014797:Vital Capacity