title: [Functional diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease].
abstract: Functional diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is important for identifying and quantifying airflow limitation, reversibility, disease severity and exacerbations. Functional diagnosis is also important for long-term therapeutic monitoring and for establishing the need for pulmonary rehabilitation. From the functional standpoint, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is characterised by a progressive airflow limitation which is not fully reversible. Spirometry is the gold standard for diagnosing the disease and monitoring its progression as it is non-invasive, standardised, reproducible, and objective. Spirometry should measure forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), and the ratio of these two measurements. Post-bronchodilator FEV1 < 80% of the predicted value and FEV1/FVC ratio < 70% confirms the diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Medicina Interna e Geriatria, Servizio di Fisiopatologia Respiratoria, Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma. gciappi@rm.unicatt.it
authors.forename: Giuliano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ciappi
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Corbo
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Valente
mesh_terms: D001985:Bronchial Provocation Tests; D017079:Exercise Tolerance; D006801:Humans; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D011659:Pulmonary Gas Exchange; D015656:Respiratory Mechanics