In 1983 the European Community for Steel and Coal last issued recommendations on lung function testing and reference values for various indices of ventilatory function, thus continuing its pioneering role in the field since 1961. Whilst the guidelines appear to have been widely adopted in Europe, after 10 years it was time to review whether they still represented the present state of knowledge. In this process the Working Party has also carefully considered those guidelines which differed from those updated in 1989 by the American Thoracic Society (ATS), since it is in the interest of those performing and interpreting lung function tests as well as of manufacturers of lung function equipment that a standard be achieved which can be applied worldwide. The Working Party has updated the chapters on the standardized measurement of the most frequently used tests of ventilatory function, i.e. assessment of forced ventilatory flows, lung volumes and transfer factor of the lung, and …
