Some Effects of Ankylosing Spondylitis on Pulmonary Gas Exchange

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Abstract
STUDIES of pulmonary function in patients with ankylosing spondylitis have established that the vital capacity is frequently reduced and that the maximum ventilatory capacity is decreased proportionately less than the vital capacity.1 2 3 In the most comprehensive survey of ventilatory function in this disease reported to date, Rogan, Needham and McDonald3 demonstrated that the reductions in vital capacity and total lung capacity were the most striking and consistently abnormal findings, and showed the best correlation with the severity of the disease as judged by radiologic criteria. Their studies also showed that the ratio of residual volume to total lung capacity was . . .