Effectiveness of Spacer Devices on Preventing Undesirable Cardiovascular Effects of Inhaled Salbutamol.

Currently, there are no regulatory guidelines indicating spacer devices/valved holding chamber (VHC) should be used routinely during pulmonary function tests, and few studies evaluated if spacer devices reduce beta-agonist bronchodilators' side effects. A prospective study compared salbutamol's cardiovascular effects and bronchodilation response during spirometry tests with and without a spacer device/VHC. Heart rate (HR), the corrected QT interval (QTc), and systolic and diastolic blood pressure were measured 10 minutes after the first spirometry test, before the drug administration, and 20 minutes after inhalation in both groups.

Inducible laryngeal obstruction: Endoscopic quantitative analysis of glottic aperture.

Objectives: Using a method developed for this study, the objective was to perform a quantitative analysis of glottic aperture during the respiratory cycle in subjects suspected of having inducible laryngeal obstruction (ILO) and to compare results to healthy individuals. Correlations between glottic aperture and spirometric parameters were assessed.

Methods: Subjects with high clinical suspicion of ILO and atypical inspiratory findings in spirometry had the images of their laryngoscopy displayed alongside a respiratory flow chart and both were recorded simultaneously.