Help interpret my blood test results

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Jason - 02 Feb 2008 03:09 GMT

These were the items on the special blood test that were in red. Could
anyone tell me if my scores were good or bad:

FEF 25% 10.02 PREDICTED 7.32
FEF 50% 6.07 PREDICTED 4.36
FEF 75% 2.18 PREDICTED 1.46
FEF 25-75% 5.00 PREDICTED 3.03
FEF MAX 10.81 PREDICTED 9.21
FIF 50% 5.91 PREDICTED 4.80

LUNG VOLUME
ERV (L) 0.70 PREDICTED 1.42

DIFFUSION
DLCOcor 24.55 PREDICTED 30.99
DL/VA 3.50 PREDICTED 4.57

AIRWAY RESISTANCE
RAW 1.09 PREDICTED 1.45
sRAW 3.45 PREDICTED 4.76
sGaw 0.29 PREDICTED 0.20

OXYGENATION PARAMETERS
COHb 0.4 reference range 0.5 to 1.5

thanks in advance

Does anyone know of any low cost books that explain how to interpret lung
function and breathing function blood tests?

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EdwardATeller - 02 Feb 2008 16:37 GMT

> These were the items on the special blood test that were in red. Could
> anyone tell me if my scores were good or bad:
[quoted text clipped - 25 lines]
> Does anyone know of any low cost books that explain how to interpret lung
> function and breathing function blood tests?

Can you tell us the name of the test? Seems like a lung volume test
is not a blood test, so maybe you had a couple done. Also, I'd be
interested in how much those tests cost.

I usually use Google to get answers. Have you tried that yet?

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Jason - 02 Feb 2008 18:45 GMT

In article
<6e727f7d-73ca-42e6-a450-3bc8f8e15eef@s8g2000prg.googlegroups.com>,

> > These were the items on the special blood test that were in red. Could
> > anyone tell me if my scores were good or bad:
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
>
> I usually use Google to get answers. Have you tried that yet?

It was a blood test that is officially called:
blood gases and pH, Arterial

In other words, the blood was obtained from an artery instead of a vein.
Various other breathing tests were done that same day.

If you want to get the same sort of tests, you will have to request a
referral to a Pulmonary Medicine Specialist. Request a copy of the test
results. The breathing tests were identical to asthma tests that are
conducted by pulmonary medicine specialists. I have "shortness of breath"
which was the reason the special blood test was done. Blood pH and
Bicarbonate (HCO3) were the most important two tests that were done that
day.

I have found some information as a result of google searches. It would be
much easier to have book that had the answers to my questions about the
meaning of those various test results.

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00doc - 02 Feb 2008 18:50 GMT

>> Can you tell us the name of the test? Seems like a lung volume test
>> is not a blood test, so maybe you had a couple done. Also, I'd be
>> interested in how much those tests cost.
>
> It was a blood test that is officially called:
> blood gases and pH, Arterial

The carboxy hemoglobin was from the arterial blood and they also needed to
do this to get the diffusion results however the rest of it is from
pulmonary function tests AKA spirometry.

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00doc

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00doc - 02 Feb 2008 18:46 GMT

> These were the items on the special blood test that were in red. Could
> anyone tell me if my scores were good or bad:
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> FEF 25-75% 5.00 PREDICTED 3.03
> FEF MAX 10.81 PREDICTED 9.21

FEF - forced expiratory flow. The % is the flow reading at the percentage of
total. I.e. 25% means that that is the flow reading when your lungs were 25%
empty. The large airways tend to empty before the smaller ones so as the
percent # increased you are moving from larger to smaller airways. A
decrease in FEF 25-75% is considered diagnostic of obstructive lung diseases
such as asthma. These are all high suggesting that you do not have flow
obstructions.

I notice that you did not list the FEV1 or FEV1/FVC ratio - which would also
suggest that your lung function is normal.

> FIF 50% 5.91 PREDICTED 4.80

This is the inspiratory flow. It is mostly a test for vocal cord dysfunction
and wekness of the tracheal wall. It is high in your case which is good and
agains suggests no disease.

> LUNG VOLUME
> ERV (L) 0.70 PREDICTED 1.42

ERV = expiratory reserve volume. It is the volume that you are able to force
out after you have passively breathed out fully. If the other volumes are
normal it is probably a mistake. Either you didn't blow out fully to the end
or they mismarked the end of a passive expiration and included part of the
forced expiration.

> DIFFUSION
> DLCOcor 24.55 PREDICTED 30.99
> DL/VA 3.50 PREDICTED 4.57

This is a measure of how well gas is diffusing across the lung. It is mildly
decreased.

> AIRWAY RESISTANCE
> RAW 1.09 PREDICTED 1.45
> sRAW 3.45 PREDICTED 4.76
> sGaw 0.29 PREDICTED 0.20

I'm not as familiary with these readings.

> OXYGENATION PARAMETERS
> COHb 0.4 reference range 0.5 to 1.5

This is the carboxy hemoglobin level. It suggests that you are not exposed
to cigarette smoke.

> Does anyone know of any low cost books that explain how to interpret lung
> function and breathing function blood tests?

http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec05/ch046/ch046b.html

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Jason - 03 Feb 2008 06:15 GMT

> > These were the items on the special blood test that were in red. Could
> > anyone tell me if my scores were good or bad:
[quoted text clipped - 55 lines]
>
> http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec05/ch046/ch046b.html

doc,
Thanks. I will make a hard copy of your post and will study your post off
line. I only mentioned the numbers that were in red (aka outside of the
predicted ranges). The numbers in black were within the predicted ranges
so I am not going to be concerned with those "good" numbers. The pulmonary
medicine specialist told me that my lungs were working normally but that I
did have a mild case of respiratory alkalosis. My blood pH level was 7.45.
He told me that I did NOT have metabolic alkalosis. I am having shortness
of breath and have had several cases of sleep apnea. As you know, I suffer
from hypochondriasis. I continue to believe that I have some sort of
hypoventilation snydrome but the pulmonary medicine specialist claimed the
special tests mentioned above ruled out any major problems related to
hypoventilation. The sleep study indicated that I do not have sleep apnea.
The reason is because I only have sleep apnea when I am sleeping on my
back. During the night of the sleep study, I did not end up on my back.
One doctor on the internet recommended that people that have sleep apnea
should sleep with a tennis ball or softball stored in the back of their
underwear to avoid sleeping on their backs.
I will visit the site that you mentioned.
Thanks again,
Jason

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