TY - JOUR T1 - Aerosol bolus dispersion in healthy subjects JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J SP - 460 LP - 467 DO - 10.1183/09031936.97.10020460 VL - 10 IS - 2 AU - P Brand AU - C Rieger AU - H Schulz AU - T Beinert AU - J Heyder Y1 - 1997/02/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/10/2/460.abstract N2 - Aerosol bolus dispersion is a physiological test of lungs, which uses monodisperse submicron particles to measure intrapulmonary convective gas mixing. In this study, aerosol bolus dispersion was measured in healthy subjects in order to assess reference values for possible clinical applications, to assess the reproducibility of these values, and to identify physical and physiological factors influencing aerosol bolus dispersion. Aerosol bolus dispersion was measured in 79 healthy subjects using 20 cm3 aerosol boluses consisting of monodisperse di-2-ethylhexyl sebacate (DEHS) particles. The reproducibility of parameters characterizing the width of the exhaled bolus was of the same order as that of parameters of the flow-volume curve (10%). Aerosol bolus dispersion was independent of the level of lung inflation, and the slope of the relationship between flow rate and dispersion was on average not significantly different from zero (range 100-700 cm3.s-1). Multiple linear regression showed that aerosol bolus dispersion increased with increasing total lung capacity of the subject. We conclude that differences in total lung capacity between individuals should be taken into account when using measures of aerosol bolus dispersion for possible clinical applications. ER -