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A space to discuss all things related to pulmonary function testing! Equipment, predicted values, protocols, and challenges. I hope this will be a useful space for technicians, physicians, and others to "meet" and share information.
Actually I have never heard of LCI before. I had to look it up.
ReplyDeleteWe have a Viasys system, and it does give LCI values when we do lung volumes by N2 washout, which is not very often. We do not report the value.
Hi, Anon. LCI is the "Lung Clearance Index". It is a measure of ventilation inhomogeneity, and mathematically is the number of FRCs needed to washout a marker. We have the Innocor device that uses SF6 as an inert marker gas. Morgan is working on a product (MorganLCI) that uses nitrogen washout. This measurement is becoming very popular in the CF community as there are data that shows that this test becomes abnormal before spirometry in infants/toddlers, and therefore may be more sensitive to early CF disease.
ReplyDeleteHi Dave:
ReplyDeleteI saw a demo of the Innocor device and read some papers on its use. Isn't someone at Pitt exploring the possibility of early identification of BOS using LCI?
Kevin McCarthy, RPFT, Cleveland Clinic
That's us. :) We haven't yet started that protocol yet, but hope to soon.
ReplyDeleteI also recently saw a product from nDD that does LCI using N2 washout; it functions nicely. I am still looking forward to the release of the MorganLCI as it would integrate nicely into the rest of our laboratory.
ReplyDelete