• Mohammad Emami Ardestani and Moloud Abbaszadeh.
• Department of Internal Medicine (Division of Pulmonology), School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
• J Res Med Sci. 2014 Mar 1; 19 (3): 257-61.

BackgroundThe study was aimed to explore the association between arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2) and spirometer parameters of disease severity in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with a view to identify whether the pulse oximetry can be used as an alternative to arterial values in the clinical management of COPD patients in a routine practice.Materials And MethodsThirty-one patients with COPD were included in this study. After evaluation of each patient through history taking, physical examination and chest X-ray, SpO2 % and data regarding spirometry (FEV1% predicted and FEV1/FVC % predicted) in all patients were measured. Linear correlations among the variables were analyzed using the regression analysis.ResultsIn total 31 COPD patients according to the criteria established by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Disease (GOLD) were included in the study. There was not statistically significant correlation between FEV1 % predicted and SpO2 values (P > 0.05), but a great correlation existed between FEV1/FVC % predicted and SpO2 values (r = 0.556, P < 0.001). Median SpO2 values did not differ between GOLD stages (Kruskal-Wallis test: P = 0.17).ConclusionThe study may demonstrate that oxygen saturation measured by pulse oximetry appears to be independent of the degree of airways obstruction as quantified by the FEV1; although further evidence needs to be assessed these preliminary findings.

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