Day +1185 : Respiratory Function Test (RFT)

I am fine today.

I suffered mild breathlessness for quite some time already. Doctor suspected that this might be a result of graft-versus-host disease. However, it is not easy to confirm this.

The possible treatment in this case is to take Prednisolon (steroid), but I am not keen to do this. This is because the breathlessness that I experience does not come to a scale that impairs my daily activities. Taking Prednisolon for an extended period of time certainly is not good for the body.

In order to monitor my lung condition, doctor arranged a RFT for me half yearly. If the lung condition worsens, then I have no choice but to start taking Prednisolon.

The last RFT was done in April this year, and I did another one yesterday. I don’t have much knowledge in interpreting the RFT result. Fortunately, there is some explanation about the test on Wikipedia under the entry of Spirometry.

The readings of primary concern for a RFT are as follow:

• FVC (Forced Vital Capacity) - the volume of air that can forcibly be blown out after full inspiration, measured in liters.
• FEV1 - maximum volume of air that can forcibly blow out in the first second during the FVC manoeuvre, measured in liters.
• FEV1/FVC - ratio of FEV1 to FVC. In healthy adults this should be approximately 75–80%.

For yesterday’s test:

1. FVC = 4.66 Liters
2. FEV1 = 3.61 Liters
3. FEV1/FVC = 77% (within the normal range)

I don’t have the April result, but I managed to retrieve the one that was done on 30/6/08.

1. FVC = 4.80 Liters
2. FEV1 = 3.72 Liters
3. FEV1/FVC = 77%

There is a very small degradation of lung function over the past 15 months, and I believe the degradation is negligible. However, only doctor can confirm whether this is the case.

I would show the result to my hematologist during my next BMT clinic appointment.

The RFT result - click to have a larger view


See you next post :-)