Comparison of both static and dynamic pulmonary function test parameters in Indian pregnant and non-pregnant women Bhattacharyya Paramita1,*, Balasubiramaniyan Vigneshwaran2, Subramanian Senthil Kumar3 1Associate Professor, Dept. of Physiology, Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences, Pondicherry 2Assistant Professor, Dept. of General Surgery, Sri Venkateshwara Medical College Hospital & Research Centre, Pondicherry 3Assistant Professor, Dept. of Physiology, Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences, Pondicherry *Corresponding Author: Email: drsonamd@yahoo.co.in
Online published on 23 February, 2018. Abstract Introduction Pregnancy is a physiological stressful condition accompanied by an increased cellular activity to fulfill the requirement of rapidly developing embryo & subsequent fetal growth. Hence, it was proposed to estimate the degree of alteration in pulmonary function during pregnancy in South Indian population. Materials and Method Uncomplicated singleton pregnancies in 1st, 2nd & 3rd trimesters (n=10 in each group) along with healthy parous non pregnant age matched control (n=10) were included in this study. Pulmonary function tests were carried out in subjects using computerized spirometer & finally data were collected. Results were analysed by ANOVA taking p<0.05 as statistically significant. Results Present study showed significant increase in inspiratory reserve volume (IRV), inspiratory capacity (IC) & vital capacity (VC) in pregnant women as compared to controls. But expiratory reserve volume (ERV) & peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) were decreased significantly in study group. On the other hand, tidal volume (TV) & FEV1/FVC ratio were not significantly altered between pregnant & non-pregnant women. Conclusion In view of these observations it can be concluded that pregnancy leads to physiological alteration in the lung function parameters of a woman as a consequence of mechanical as well as complex hormonal factors which are reversible but not compromised as such due to progressive distension of gravid uterus. Top Keywords Pulmonary function test, Vital capacity, Pregnancy, Spirometry. Top |