PULMONARY
FUNCTION TEST
PRESENTED BY: RUJA HAIDER (JUW34199)
CONTENTS
Pulmonary function tests
Purpose of PFTs
Classification of PFTs
PULMONARY FUNCTION TESTS
Pulmonary function tests (PFTs) are used to check how well your lungs
are working. They look at three main things: how well you breathe in and
out (ventilation), how oxygen gets into your blood and carbon dioxide gets
out (gas exchange), and how blood flows through your lungs (perfusion).
a. Ventilatory Function: These tests check the size of your lungs, how open
your airways are, and how well air moves into and out of your lungs.
b. Gas Exchange Function: This measures how effectively your lungs
transfer oxygen from the air into your blood and remove carbon dioxide
from your blood into the air you breathe out.
c. Perfusion Function: This involves special tests to see how well blood
flows through your lungs.
WHY PFTS?
Doctors use pulmonary function tests for several reasons:
1. To figure out what's causing someone to feel short of breath (dyspnea)
and to see how much it affects them.
2. To track how a disease is changing over time and if treatments are
helping.
3. Before surgeries like anesthesia or heart and lung surgeries, to make
sure the lungs are healthy enough.
4. To check how fit someone is and see how exercise or training is
affecting their lungs.
5. To determine the incidence of respiratory dysfunction in the
community and workers in hazardous industries.
CLASSIFICATION OF
PULMONARY FUNCTION
TESTS
BY
1. SIMPLE TESTS
CHEST EXPANSION
BREATH HOLDING TIME
2. SPECIAL TECHNIQUES
SIMPLE TESTS
CHEST EXPANSIONS
To check how much your chest expands, wrap a tape measure around your chest just
below your nipples. Normally, your chest should expand by 5 to 10 centimeters
when you take a deep breath after breathing out forcefully.
BREATH HOLDING TIME
Breath holding time is the time till when you can hold your breath i.e 45sec to
1min, while holding your breath oxygen level decreases and CO2 level increases
which stimulates the respiratory center ( medulla oblongata) to reach the breaking
point where the perosn breaks his BHT
SPECIAL TECHNIQUES
> Chest X-ray: This is a simple picture of your chest to look for signs of lung
disease.
> Pulmonary Catheterization: Doctors use this to measure the pressure in the
blood vessels of your lungs by inserting a tube into a vein.
> CT Scan (Computerized Axial Tomography): This is a detailed scan that
creates pictures of the inside of your body, including your lungs, using special
X-ray equipment.
>MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging): This is another type of detailed scan
that uses strong magnets and radio waves to create images of the inside of your
body.
>Bronchoscopy:Bronchoscopy is a procedure where a flexible tube with a camera on
the end is gently inserted through your nose or mouth, down your throat, and into
your airways. Before each step, a numbing spray is used to make you more
comfortable. This lets the doctor see the inside of your windpipe and lower air
passages. They can even take a small sample of any abnormal tissue for further
examination.
>Lung Scan: Doctors use this to check if there are any problems with blood flow
from your heart to your lungs. They inject a radioactive substance into your vein and
use a special camera to create images.
>Ventilation Scan: This test measures how air flows in and out of your lungs. You
inhale a radioactive gas, and then a camera takes pictures to see how the gas moves in
your lungs.
