Abstract
Six subjects with asbestos-related fibrosis of the pleura who complained of shortness of breath as the cause of limiting effort were studied by a progressive exercise test to clarify the underlying mechanism(s). Significant parenchymal disease was excluded by gallium scan and computed tomography. All subjects showed limitation of maximum exercise capacity; 5 also showed increases in minute ventilation, frequency of breathing and inspiratory flow rates, decreases in tidal volume, and elevated dead space/tidal volume ratios during submaximal exercise. Fatigue of the diaphragm on exercise assessed by electromyographic techniques in 3 subjects was not a limiting factor, and the perception of shortness of breath on effort appears to have been attributable to the abnormal breathing pattern adopted. This, in turn, could be accounted for by increases in chest wall impedance due to reduced compliance of the parietal pleura.
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Picado, C., Laporta, D., Grassino, A. et al. Mechanisms affecting exercise performance in subjects with asbestos-related pleural fibrosis. Lung 165, 45–57 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02714420
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02714420