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The History of Pulmonary Function Testing

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Book cover Pulmonary Function Testing

Part of the book series: Respiratory Medicine ((RM))

Abstract

Pulmonary function testing has a rich and diverse history. Since the time of ancient Greece, we have endeavored to understand the processes that regulate our breathing in health and disease. To augment this understanding, there are many extensive published histories of pulmonary function and physiology, and the reader is advised to seek out further details as listed in the Selected References. Within the confines of the present book, this chapter will focus on selected highlights relevant to clinical pulmonary function testing, through which we hope that the reader can gain a deeper understanding of the different tests as each is done today.

We have therefore chosen to organize this chapter by test, as one would see on a typical PFT result sheet: spirometry, lung volumes, diffusing capacity, and bronchoprovocation. Indeed, we hope it will become clear how the history of each test often rests on parallel developmental pathways, tracing the origin from different disciplines and carried forward by different technologies.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Dr. Jimmie Sylvester for his insight and very helpful comments critiquing an earlier version of this document.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Tianshi David Wu

  2. Pulmonary Function Laboratory, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Meredith C. McCormack

  3. Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Wayne Mitzner

Authors
  1. Tianshi David Wu
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  2. Meredith C. McCormack
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  3. Wayne Mitzner
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Meredith C. McCormack .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA

    David A. Kaminsky

  2. University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA

    Charles G. Irvin

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Wu, T.D., McCormack, M.C., Mitzner, W. (2018). The History of Pulmonary Function Testing. In: Kaminsky, D., Irvin, C. (eds) Pulmonary Function Testing. Respiratory Medicine. Humana Press, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94159-2_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94159-2_2

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