Prognostic Significance of the Maximal Breathing Capacity in Cardiopulmonary Diseases1

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Abstract
The maximal breathing capacity and the one-year, three-year, and five-year survival rates were correlated in patients with various cardiopulmonary diseases. Information was available on 239 of 256 patients studied. Of these, 84 had died: 64 due to pulmonary insufficiency, eight due to cardiac insufficiency, and two of unknown causes. Survival increased with increasing maximal breathing capacity when this was expressed as per cent of its predicted value. The percentage of deaths decreases sharply when the maximal breathing capacity reaches 50% of predicted. While age has a direct relationship to death rate, a decreased maximal breathing capacity increases the death rate.

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