Lung Volumes - Restrictive and Obstructive

Restrictive and Obstructive

The results (in particular FEV1/FVC and FRC) can be used to distinguish between restrictive and obstructive pulmonary diseases:

Type Examples Description FEV1/FVC
restrictive diseases pulmonary fibrosis, Infant Respiratory Distress Syndrome, weak respiratory muscles, pneumothorax volumes are decreased often in a normal range (0.8 - 1.0)
obstructive diseases asthma or COPD volumes are essentially normal but flow rates are impeded often low (Asthma can reduce the ratio to 0.6, Emphysema can reduce the ratio to 0.78 - 0.45)

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