MEASUREMENT OF ENDOMURAL BRONCHIAL (OR SQUEEZE) PRESSURES IN BRONCHITIS AND ASTHMA

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Abstract
The endomural bronchial pressure excursions in a segmental bronchus were measured by an intrabronchial balloon system in 39 patients (7 with chronic asthma, 28 with varying degrees of chronic bronchitis, and 4 with no chronic bronchitis). Simultaneous measurements were made of the corresponding intra-esophageal pressure excursions. Endomural bronchial pressure excursions ranged from less than 6 cm water in those patients with no bronchitis to more than 80 cm water in 2 patients with chronic asthma. The pressure excursions in the bronchitis lay between these extremes, those patients with the greatest clinical evidence of bronchospasm having the highest endomural bronchial pressure excursions. The ratio of the endomural bronchial pressure excursions to the corresponding esophageal pressure excursions ranged from 0.3 for a relatively normal patient to 2.83 for a chronic asthmatic. It was found that the more wheezy the patient, the higher was the balloon/esophageal ratio. The fact that endomural bronchial pressure excursions were higher than the corresponding intra-esophageal pressure excursions in the patients with most wheeze suggests that active contraction of bronchial muscle made a significant contribution to the airway obstruction in these patients.

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