Clinical physiology (Oxford, England)
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
The effect of forced expirations on mucociliary clearance in patients with chronic bronchitis and in healthy subjects.
Animal studies have shown that frequent coughing may damage the mucociliary apparatus in flow-limiting segments of the central airways. To determine whether mucociliary clearance in humans is affected by repeated dynamic compression associated with forced expirations, we measured pulmonary deposition and mucociliary clearance for 2 h of inhaled [99Tcm]albumin. The subjects inhaled [99Tcm]albumin on 2 study days (randomized) using (A) slow inspirations and forced expirations, while inhalation using (B) forced inspirations and slow expirations served as control. ⋯ There was no significant difference in retention of radioactivity in the central lung region at 1 h in the patients with chronic bronchitis after inhalation with manoeuvre A (102%) and with manoeuvre B (91.5%), or in the healthy subjects after manoeuvre A (74%) and manoeuvre B (77%). There was also no difference in the retention at 2 h or in overall mucociliary clearance in any of the groups. We conclude that dynamic compression in the central airways associated with forced expiration does not affect bronchial clearance in the airways of healthy subjects or in patients with chronic bronchitis.