News and Events
Friday, December 09, 2011
Non-invasive physiological biomarkers in health and disease – a research study at the Royal Brompt
This study is currently recruiting at the Royal Brompton and, as PCD patients are an important part of the study, we wanted to introduce this research so you know what’s happening if you see us in clinic. The study is about comparing the results of various non-invasive tests of lung function with each other, and looking at how they vary between people with different conditions. Non-invasive means tests that don’t require blood being taken, only breathing in different ways into different machines. A big part of this is looking at ways in which these tests are similar, and perhaps more importantly ways in which they are different, between people with PCD and people with cystic fibrosis (CF).
Though most people are used to doing spirometry (our standard blowing test) in clinic, these tests look at other measures of lung health as well. For example, Lung Clearance Index (LCI) looks at how efficient ventilation throughout the lung is – it’s produced really interesting results in CF in recent years and we are very keen to see what it shows in PCD; Exhaled Nitric Oxide (FeNO) is a measure of a gas that lungs give off in larger amounts than normal when they are inflamed; and Airway Mucosal Blood Flow (Qaw) is designed to measure how good the blood supply to the lungs is in people with respiratory disease, as detecting and treating any problems with it is very important to keep lungs healthy.
At the moment we are specifically recruiting children who attend the Royal Brompton clinics so unfortunately cannot accept other recruits, but the results of our research will be published when we’re finished and we’ll make sure the PCD network is kept informed.
If you have any questions about the study, please contact Sam via email at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Or alternatively you can contact the PCD Family Support Group via the contact us page.