Determination of lung volumes from chest films

Abstract

The results obtained from two radiological methods of determining total lung capacity (TLC) (Kovach's parabo-oid and Barnhard's ellipsoid) were compared with those obtained with the body plethysmograph. Determinations of TLC were made in four groups of subjects: group 1 consisted of 26 miners most of whom had simple pneumoconiosis; group 2 consisted of 12 normal subjects; group 3 consisted of eight subjects who had a variety of chest disease, but with no demonstrable parenchymal or pleural opacification; and group 4 consisted of 19 subjects with misce!laneous diseases, all showing demonstrable infiltration or opacification.The values obtained by the method of Kovach and his colleagues often differed markedly from the plethysmographic determinations, and it became apparent that this method was not sufficiently accurate. On the other hand, the technique of Barnhard and his colleagues gave results that were essentially similar to, and as far as we can say interchangeable with, those obtained by the body plethysmograph in groups 1, 2, and 3. In subjects with marked pulmonary opacification or infiltration, the disparity between Barnhard's method and the plethysmograph tended to be more sizeable. It was concluded that Barnhard's method for determining total lung capacity is accurate and could be applied to epidemiological surveys.

Lung volumes and flow rates in black and white subjects

“…The total lung capacity (TLC) was derived by Barnhard's method (Barnhard, Pierce, Joyce, and Bates, 1960) and the residual volume (RV) was calculated by subtracting the FVC from the TLC. This technique has been shown elsewhere to be acceptable (O'Shea et al, 1970).…”

Lung volumes and forced ventilatory flows

“…Radiographic determination of lung volume Lung volumes can be determined from radiogmplis of the chest in the postero-anterior and laterdl projections at full lung inflation [48,50,52,59,[188][189][190][191][192][193][194][195][196]. Th~ method gives values for total lung capacity which differ insignificantly from plethysmographically determined values even in stibjeots with airflow limitation [43,47,49,50].…”

Hyperinflation of the lungs in coal miners

“…The age of the subjects varied between 18 and 65 with a mean of 48-7 years. The total lung capacity of the subjects was determined from standard posteroanterior and lateral chest films while the forced vital capacity was determined by spirometry (O'Shea et al, 1970). The effect of increasing radiographic category of simple coal workers' pneumoconiosis on lung volumes was investigated.…”