END STAGE LUNG DISEASE
Anyway, today's test (don't know the name of it; will have to ask Rebecca) is research to see how the different parts of the chest wall (front and back) move either paradoxically or otherwise in a person with emphysema compared to a normal person. There was a thoracic surgeon there from Brazil, getting some training on this machine and a young female tech (Elena) from Italy who does the testing and the teaching. This machine was first tested and used in Italy to see how leg muscles reacted in certain situations. They've been using it over there for about 15 years. Dr. Cooper wants to get it approved for use here at the U of P because he feels it's a less strenuous way to check a lot of the stuff a PFT shows. It won't show the diffusion but it will show how the lungs and chest are working. As we all know, there are a lot of people who won't or are physically unable to really do the PFT test well and Dr. Cooper thinks this will be the test of choice for those people. Anyway, I rattle.....