Pulmonary Function Tests (PFTs) are routinely done on children and adults with lung disease, such as CF, or respiratory problems, such as asthma. Infant PFTs are a special type of pulmonary function test that is only done in specialized centers.
In infants, lung function testing requires sedation so the child sleeps and is passive during the test. This allows the infant PFT equipment to perform testing since the child is not old enough to cooperate with PFTs. Infant PFTs can be performed very early in life until about 2 to 4 year of age depending on the equipment and size of the child.
Once children undergoing an infant PFT are asleep, they are placed in the equipment with a mask over their mouth and nose. They breath air with oxygen if needed through the mask. Lung volumes and flows are measured while the child breathes through the mask. An inflatable jacket is also placed around the child's chest to help them blow out air.
Since a baby or toddler cannot comprehend nor perform these tests the way older children and adults can, so the baby must be sedated and the exercises must be done for them. Click
here to see Mark performing a set of PFTs last year.
These were Brett's second set of PFTs. The first were done in March of 2010 -
(you can read about them here), when he was very, very ill and required oxygen. Not surprisingly, he had very low scores. The chief of the division actually told us they were among the worst she had ever seen in an infant. It was unsettling, to say the least. Back then he was put on an extremely long course of steroids, and his oxygen requirement diminished,
Fast forward until June 9, 2011, and here we are again to repeat the tests. It was a good time to test him again because it is always better to go under anesthesia or sedation when you are not sick. First Brett got some Versed to relax him while they inserted an IV line and began his sedation.
Then they put him in this little box :
then put a mask on his face with some putty so no air can escape. For part of the test they inflate his lungs and then put a bladder-type thing on his stomach to force the air out. They can measure the forced expiratory volume this way. It's usually called FEV1, meaning the volume you can blow out in one second. For babies this is measured in .5 seconds as opposed to 1 second. Again, there are various values measured, but for the CF folks, FEV1 is the one most talked about. After it was over, the doctor coached in learning to read this report:
I'm sure those of you who are farther along in your CF journey can decode this easily, and probably explain all this way better than I can, but I am still fairly illiterate when it comes to reading and understanding these values. The GREAT news is that Brett's FEV.5 went up drastically - 40%. This is an incredible improvement. One we are so very happy about and grateful for. But this blessing is tempered with the knowledge that these scores do not mean that his lung disease is not severe. It is. Worse than most CF kids his age. In fact, after last years, CT scan on his lungs, our doctor told me his lungs look like what you would expect a CF teenager's to look like. Today when we were discussing the findings, I got that sick, sinking feeling you get when you talk about your child having an inspid disease like cystic fibrosis, and the description on his report reads, "severe obstructive airway
Most of the time it's easy enough to just not think about it much - just go along with life, do what we can, be extremely disciplined about medicines and treatments. And persevere. And pray. Please join us in praying for our boy's continued wellness. And most of all for a cure, which still looks promising, and quite possibly could happen in his lifetime.
