ESTIMATION OF MAXIMAL BREATHING CAPACITY BY MEANS OF CHEST FLUOROSCOPY AND INSPIRATORY ROENTGENOGRAMS - STUDY IN PATIENTS WITH PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS

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Abstract
An analysis was carried out, using standardized procedures, of the accuracy of estimation of the maximal breathing capacity from chest fluoroscopy and from the frontal chest roentgeno-gram in 200 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. The mean error of fluoroscopic estimation for all 200 cases was 11.5% with a range of -30 to +39%. The error was less than + 20% in 78.5% of the cases. The mean error of roentgenographic estimate was 17.1% with a range of -54 to +35%, which is significantly larger than the error of fluoroscopic estimate. There is a decided tendency to underestimate function from the roentgenogram. The mean error of fluoroscopic estimate for the second 100 cases (9.6%) was significantly lower than that for the first 100 cases (13.1%). Analysis showed the difference to be due to the development of increased skill by the fluoroscopist. It was concluded that fluoroscopy of the chest is a cheap, readily available, and highly useful technique for screening ventilatory function. It is significantly more accurate than estimates made from frontal chest roentgenograms, but does not have sufficient accuracy to replace ventilatory function tests when precise information is needed.