Impact of a rehabilitation program on dyspnea intensity and quality in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: It has yet to be determined whether the language of dyspnea responds to pulmonary rehabilitation programs (PRP).

Objective: We tested the hypothesis that PRP affect both the intensity and quality of exercise-induced dyspnea in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Methods: We studied 49 patients equipped with a portable telemetric spiroergometry device during the 6-min walking test before and 4 weeks after PRP.

Patterns of chest wall kinematics during volitional pursed-lip breathing in COPD at rest.

Background: Analysis of chest wall kinematics can contribute to identifying the reasons why some patients benefit from pursed-lip breathing (PLB).

Material And Methods: We evaluated the displacement of the chest wall and its compartments, the rib cage and abdomen, by optoelectronic plethysmography (OEP), during supervised PLB maneuver in 30 patients with mild to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Results: OEP showed two different patterns.

Arm exercise and hyperinflation in patients with COPD: effect of arm training.

Background: Unlike studies on leg exercise, reports on the regulation of dynamic hyperinflation during arm exercise are scanty. We ascertained the following in patients with COPD: (1) whether and to what extent upper-limb exercise results in dynamic hyperinflation, and (2) the mechanism whereby an arm-training program (ATP) reduces arm effort and dyspnea.

Patients: Twelve patients with moderate-to-severe COPD were tested during incremental, symptom-limited arm exercise after a non-intervention control period (pre-ATP) and after ATP.

Chest wall kinematics and breathlessness during pursed-lip breathing in patients with COPD.

Background: Pursed-lip breathing (PLB) is a strategy often spontaneously employed by patients with COPD during distress situations. Whether and to what extent PLB affects operational lung volume is not known. Also, conflicting reports deal with PLB capability of decreasing breathlessness.