TY - JOUR T1 - Small airway function and peripheral airway disease in healthy subjects and smokers JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 42 IS - Suppl 57 SP - P792 AU - Sofia-Antiopi Gennimata AU - Evangelia Daniil AU - Georgios Kaltsakas AU - Anastasios Palamidas AU - Antonia Koutsoukou AU - John Jordanoglou AU - Nickolaos G. Koulouris Y1 - 2013/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/42/Suppl_57/P792.abstract N2 - Functional changes pertinent to the peripheral airways of smokers can be detected even when these smokers present with “normal” spirometry (GOLD 2013), indicating that early structural changes in the small airways develop before the diagnosis of overt COPD is established. The slope of phase III, FEF25-75% (Chest 1984; 86: 100-5), and effective time (Thorax 1980; 35: 375-378) and its variations are advocated for early detection of small airways disease. These tests discriminate between never smokers and smokers with “normal” spirometry. However, it is not clear which of these aforementioned tests is the “most” appropriate to detect early small airways disease.We studied 64 (36 men) Caucasian subjects (24 never smokers, 27 smokers with "normal" spirometry, and 13 COPDers of GOLD I). All subjects were free from any co-morbidities and had (mean±SD): age=45±14 y, FVC, %pred=110±12, FEV1, %pred=100±14, FEV1/FVC, %=76±9, TLC, %pred=103±11, FRC, %pred=97±18, and DLCO, %pred=88±15. Simple spirometry, the slope of phase III (ΔN2/L), and the effective time at the 60-70% part of the forced vital capacity of the lung (TEFFp7) were measured.In the group of subjects with “normal” spirometry: The FEF25-75%, %pred (83±23) was abnormal in 15/51 subjects. The ΔN2/L, %pred (117±63) was abnormal in 14/51 subjects. TEFFp7, %pred (116±43) was abnormal in 20/51. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that TEFFp7, %pred is the “most appropriate”, amongst the tests performed, to discriminate smokers with “normal” spirometry from never smokers (p=0.036).In conclusion, TEFFp7 appears to be a sensitive test for the early detection of small airway disease. ER -