Spiro result

[Will1982]

Hi, had a quick question. May seem a bit complicated so I apologise in advance. my results came back as FEV1 3.68 and FVC 4.89 which I believe is Suboptimal.

Predicted for my age and height is 4.65 and 5.7 respectively.

Is this particularly low? Dr says probable asthma.

Any data specialists expertise welcome!!

Hope everyone’s well.

[mylungshateme]

This may help. blf.org.uk/support-for-you/... 🙂

[Lysistrata Administrator Community Ambassador]

Hi, so I've done some quick percentage calculations, based on your predicted values. Bear in mind this is a snapshot - even severe asthmatics can get really good results on a good day and/or post medication, because asthma is a variable condition. Was this done when you had been off medication for a set amount of time (eg at least 4-6 hours after last reliever)? Bear in mind also that the predicted values really are averages from the whole population of people who match your age, height and sex from a sample population. So your actual best when well may be above or below that.

'Normal' is usually considered >80% of predicted, so your FEV1 is 79% ie slightly low but only just, and FVC is 85% predicted. The ratio of FEV1/FVC, which shows airway obstruction, is 75%, which is technically above the usual 'cutoff' for obstruction of 70%. However, really they should be basing the calculation for obstruction on your predicted results rather than a set cutoff for the ratio to work out what it should be for you personally, because what counts as obstruction does vary by age/height/sex too. Your cutoff to show obstruction will be higher than say a 5 foot tall 70 year old woman, and your doctor may be taking this into account rather than using the fixed cutoff.

I'm guessing they didn't do any reversibility ie giving you reliever, waiting 15 mins, then doing it again? The guidelines say no need to if 'no obstruction' (using the 70% cutoff) or normal results initially, which honestly drives me crazy as I do think it helps to give a fuller picture of asthma to see what the medication does to your readings. It is entirely possible to have significant reversibility that shows asthma even from a 'normal' starting point (asthma is more than 12-15% improvement from baseline; the range is because guidelines vary slightly). It sounds like your doctor is seeing this as asthma however.

Hope this helps!

🙂

[lucie982]

Ive just had spirometry with reversability. My first round fev1 was 104% 🥳 felt like a boss,nurse mentioned the curve on the flow still looked a bit off but she didnt expect to see much reversibility. Didnt get my overall score but my first blow after neb i hit 114% fev1. The test quite clearly showed my reversibility and controlled Asthma. This was just a follow up from a hospital stay where my GP had told me once again he thought i had COPD, consultant decided to get the dlco test done at the same time which was normal in the hope my GP will just treat my asthma properly.

Dont worry about how low test results are, they dont disprove your asthma at all