Respiratory function in healthy taiwanese infants: Tidal breathing analysis, passive mechanics, and tidal forced expiration

Shen Hao Lai, Sui Ling Liao, Tsung Chieh Yao, Ming Han Tsai, Man Chin Hua, Kuo Wei Yeh, Jing Long Huang

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: Although infant lung function (ILF) testing is widely practiced in developed Western countries it is not typically performed in Eastern countries, and lung measurements are scarce for Asian infants. Therefore, this study aimed to establish normal reference values for Taiwanese infants. Materials and Methods: Full-term infants without any chronic diseases and major anomalies were enrolled in the Prediction of Allergies in Taiwanese Children (PATCH) cohort study. Detailed medical data, such as body weight and length, birth history, and histories of previous illness and hospitalization were recorded. Lung function measurements such as analysis of tidal breathing, passive respiratory mechanics, and forced tidal expiratory flow-volume curves were obtained through Jaeger Masterscreen BabyBody Paediatrics System. Multiple linear analyses were performed to determine various parameters of the lung function tests. Results: ILF test parameters were collected from 126 infants, and 189 tests were performed. The results revealed that the ratio of time to peak expiratory flow to total expiratory time, the ratio of volume to peak expiratory flow to total expiratory volume, and the ratio of inspiratory time to total respiratory time remained relatively constant despite differences in age. However, body length is the strongest independent variable influencing tidal volume, respiratory rate, resistance, compliance, and maximal expiratory flow at functional residual capacity. Conclusion: According to our review of relevant literature, this is the first study to establish a reference data of ILF tests in the Asian population. This study provided reference values and regression equations for several variables of lung function measurements in healthy infants aged less than 2 years. With these race-specific reference data, ILF can more precisely and efficiently diagnose respiratory diseases in infants of Chinese ethnicity.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere0142797
JournalPLoS ONE
Volume10
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - 01 11 2015

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Lai et al.This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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