PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Charalampos Mandros
AU  - Dimitrios Ntelios
AU  - Ioanna Tassiou
AU  - Pavlos Malindretos
AU  - George Tzelepis
TI  - Rate of occurrence of lung function testing abnormalities in Greek ankylosing spondylitis patients
DP  - 2013 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - P3949
VI  - 42
IP  - Suppl 57
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/42/Suppl_57/P3949.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/42/Suppl_57/P3949.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2013 Sep 01; 42
AB  - Introduction:Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) compromises respiratory function by affecting chestwall mechanics and pulmonary parenchyma. Pulmonary function tests from previous studies revealed a restrictive pattern of breathing, ranging from 18 to 57%. Data regarding FRC values are contradictory.(1,2)Objectives: The scope of our study was to evaluate PFTs in a Greek cohort of AS patients and compare our results with similar studies from other groups.Methods: We examined 34 AS patients from our Rheumatology Outpatient Clinic. Data from spirometry, lung volumes, and diffusing capacity were collected for further analysis.Results: Mean and SD values are shown at Table 1.View this table:Lung function tests of AS patientsMean disease duration 18 years, which is a significant period at the natural history of the disease itself and its consequences.A significant number of patients (67,6%, 23 out of 34) had TLC values less than 80% of the predicted values. 44% of our patients (15 out of 34) had a restrictive breathing pattern.Conclusions:Our data suggest that in our ankylosing spondylitis patients TLC values were lower than in previous studies. A significant number of our patients had also a restrictive pattern, which seems to be correlated with the disease duration itself.References:1)Total respiratory resistance and reactance in ankylosing spondylitis and kyphoscoliosis. Van Noord et al. Eur Respir J. 1991;4:945-9512)Chest wall kinematics and respiratory muscle action in ankylosing spondylitis patients. Romagnoli I., et al Eur Respir J. 2004;24:453-460.