[Isolated alveolar hypoventilation as a tubercular sequellae].
Whilst the sequelae of extensive tuberculous infections generally manifest as an overall respiratory failure, characterised by a rise in the alveolar arterial gradient for oxygen and often CO2 retention, we report some observations on six patients with significant pleural and parenchymal tuberculosis; these patients presented with a restrictive syndrome associated with an apparently isolated alveolar hypoventilation. In four of these patients an effort test showed that there was adequate adaptation to alveolar ventilation on effort. In one patient measurement of PO.1 in a resting state and then during the course of a test of CO2 responsiveness revealed an absence of any response to CO2. On the basis of these results, we propose that in certain subjects suffering from significant sequelae of tuberculous disease the major functional abnormalities can be expressed as alveolar hypoventilation. This latter is not necessarily followed by a mechanical overload leading to an eventual fatigue of respiratory muscles but rather to a disorder of the regulation of ventilation. The basic mechanism of such an anomaly remains undetermined.
Ricou
B
B
Division de Pneumologie, Hôpital cantonal universitaire, Genève, Suisse.
Junod
A F
AF
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006801:Humans; D006935:Hypercapnia / Q000503:physiopathology; D007040:Hypoventilation / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D008448:Maximal Expiratory Flow Rate / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D011650:Pulmonary Alveoli / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012126:Respiratory Dead Space / Q000502:physiology; D015656:Respiratory Mechanics / Q000502:physiology; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000150:complications*; D014692:Ventilation-Perfusion Ratio / Q000502:physiology; D014797:Vital Capacity / Q000502:physiology
D010100:Oxygen
Hypoventilation alvéolaire isolée dans les séquelles tuberculeuses.