“Lung Function Assessment of Severe Asthma” presented by Brigitte Borg & Prof. Greg King
As part of our ongoing seminar series, the Centre of Excellence in Severe Asthma hosted Ms. Brigitte Borg & Prof. Greg King, for a webinar on “Lung Function Assessment of Severe Asthma” on 22 February 2019.
Speakers & Timing:
- Ms Brigitte Borg – Tests of lung function in the assessment of asthma [0:00]
- Greg King – Lung function assessment of severe asthma – monitoring [23:53]
Presentation Summary
Ms. Borg & Prof. King provide an overview of assessment approaches to quantify lung function for severe asthma. The presentation includes information on relevant techniques, interpretation for disease diagnosis and ongoing management and introduces new technologies.
More information about lung function assessments is also available in the Severe Asthma Toolkit – click here
Key Points:
- Spirometry assessment of lung function is a key objective technique for the diagnosis and management of obstructive airway disease, including severe asthma
- Spirometry assessment typically includes measurement of forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC)
- Spirometry should be performed by trained healthcare professionals, due to complexity in assessment and interpretation
- Expected spirometry findings for asthma include airflow limitation, which is reversed following bronchodilator treatment
- Cases are presented which highlight the variability in spirometry findings that can occur in real-world clinical settings
- Bronchial provocation testing can be useful to inform asthma diagnosis, when initial spirometry findings are normal
- Peak expiratory flow (PEF) can be useful to document variability in lung function and to monitor for changes in disease severity or treatment requirements
- Alternative objective assessment approaches are in development, which will support asthma diagnosis, monitoring and management in the future
- Forced oscillatory technique (FOT) is a non-invasive approach that allows objective characterisation of lung mechanics
- Ongoing FOT monitoring may be useful to identify worsening of asthma symptoms and for prediction of future asthma attacks
- Advances in technology may allow for FOT monitoring in the home in the future
About Brigitte Borg:
Brigitte Borg is a certified respiratory function scientist with 26 years’ experience. Brigitte works at The Alfred, Melbourne managing the Lung Function Laboratory. Brigitte’s areas of interest in the field of respiratory medicine include lung function interpretation (for which she co-authored a book in 2014), laboratory accreditation, quality spirometry in primary care, and oxygen therapy.
About Prof. Greg King:
Greg King is a staff specialist in respiratory medicine and a research academic at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, Royal North Shore Hospital and University of Sydney. His clinical and research interests are airways disease, particularly asthma, COPD, bronchiolitis and obesity and their impacts on lung function, including ventilation distribution, airway closure, airway hyper-responsiveness and remodelling.
More information about lung function assessments is also available in the Severe Asthma Toolkit – click here
