Abnormal gas exchange

Hi

Went to see my resp nurse last week and was told that when I had lung function tests it showed that my gas exchange was abnormal - they even rechecked my CT scan to see if they had missed anything but thankfully they hadn't! Is this normal with uncontrolled asthma??

Sarah

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Hey,

I don't suffer from asthma but was diagnosed with it before they discovered my lung disease. What test did they do to find you have abnormal gas exchange? They would usually do a carbon monoxide test which would be measured as DLCO in lung function labs. Conditions such as emphysema, cystic fibrosis and other interstitial lung diseases (which I suffer from) can affect gas exchange also anemia can throw off strange results due to a low HB but this is obviously seen on blood gases which are usually always done in lung function.

Asthma wouldn't usually mean abnormal gas exchange because the surface area of your lungs is calculated before the test (or something along those lines is!) and they know the results you should get. It is pretty impossible to do the test badly also so are they going to keep an eye on this? Is there a chance your lungs could have some scarring from previous attacks?

Tks xx