Evaluation of Major Airway Lesions Using the Flow-Volume Loop

Abstract

The flow-volume (FV) loop is another way of representing spirometric data from combinations of forced expiratory and forced inspiratory vital capacity breaths. The FV loop is of use in identifying, and often localizing, lesions of the larynx and the trachea (down to the carina). Three general patterns have been recognized. When the lesion behaves in a fixed fashion (as might occur with an artificial orifice), maximal expiratory and inspiratory flows are almost equally compromised. This results in a rectangular FV loop, irrespective of whether the lesion is located intrathoracically or extrathoracically. When the lesion behaves in a variable fashion, two distinct patterns are seen, depending on the location of the lesion (intrathoracic or extrathoracic). The variable lesion acts as a fixed lesion during one phase of forced respiration only. The extrathoracic variable lesion results in a predominant reduction in forced inspiratory flow, with little effect on expiratory flow, whereas the intrathoracic variable lesion produces a characteristic reduction in expiratory flow. These patterns reflect the transmural forces existing at the site of the lesion.