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. 1983 Jan 15;286(6360):179–182. doi: 10.1136/bmj.286.6360.179

Are "pink puffers" more breathless than "blue bloaters"?

M A Johnson, A A Woodcock, M Rehahn, D M Geddes
PMCID: PMC1546331  PMID: 6401519

Abstract

Breathlessness, disability, and exercise tolerance were assessed in 26 patients with severe chronic airflow limitation (forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) less than or equal to 1 litre) divided into two groups--15 patients who were normocapnic (pressure of arterial carbon dioxide (Paco2) less than 5.5 kPa (less than 41.4 mm Hg)), and 11 patients who were hypercapnic (Paco2 greater than 6 kPa (greater than than 45.1 mm Hg)). The two groups were well matched for spirometric values (FEV1 0.59 1 and 0.62 1, respectively). All of the hypercapnic patients could improve blood gas tensions towards normal by hyperventilation. There were no significant differences in visual analogue scores of breathlessness during treadmill exercise, disability (oxygen-cost diagram, dyspnoea grade), or exercise tolerance (six-minute walk, maximal consumption of oxygen during bicycle ergometry, distance walked to exhaustion in progressive treadmill test). The findings show that the "fight" to maintain normal blood gas tensions in the face of severe airflow limitation does not have an appreciable cost in terms of disability.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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