Objective: To evaluate alterations in pulmonary function in patients with systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial pneumonia over a five-year period. Methods: This was a longitudinal study involving 35 nonsmoking patients with systemic sclerosis and without a history of lung disease. At the first evaluation, performed at the time of the diagnosis of interstitial pneumonia, the patients were submitted to HRCT, spirometry, and measurement of DLCO. The patients were subdivided into two groups by the presence or absence of honeycombing on the HRCT scans. Approximately five years after the first evaluation, the patients were submitted to spirometry and measurement of DLCO only. Results: Of the 35 patients, 34 were women. The mean age was 47.6 years. The mean time between the two evaluations was 60.9 months. Honeycombing was detected on the HRCT scans in 17 patients. In the sample as a whole, five years after the diagnosis, FVC, FEV1 and DLCO significantly decreased (81.3 ± 18.2% vs. 72.1 ± 22.2%; 79.9 ± 17.8% vs. 72.5 ± 20.6%; and 74.0 ± 20.5% vs. 60.7 ± 26.8%, respectively; p = 0.0001 for all), and the FEV1/FVC ratio significantly increased (98.5 ± 7.2% vs. 101.9 ± 7.8%; p = 0.008). In the same period, FVC, FEV1, and DLCO values were significantly lower in the patients with honeycombing on the HRCT scans than in those without (p = 0.0001). Conclusions: In systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease, the detection of honeycombing on HRCT is crucial to predicting accelerated worsening of pulmonary function.

Keywords: Scleroderma, systemic; Respiratory function tests; Tomography, X-ray computed.

Objective: To evaluate inspiratory volume in patients undergoing cardiac surgery and to determine the effects that incentive spirometry (IS) and the breath stacking (BS) technique have on the recovery of FVC in such patients. Methods: A prospective, controlled, randomized clinical trial involving 35 patients undergoing cardiac surgery at the Hospital de Força Aérea do Galeão (HFAG, Galeão Air Force Hospital), in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The patients, all of whom performed mobilization and cough procedures, were randomly divided into three groups: exercise control (EC), performing only the abovementioned procedures; IS, performing the abovementioned procedures and instructed to take long breaths using an incentive spirometer; and BS, performing the abovementioned procedures, together with successive inspiratory efforts using a facial mask coupled to a unidirectional valve. Forced spirometry was carried out in the preoperative period and on postoperative days 1 to 5. During the maneuvers, inspiratory volume was measured in the IS and BS groups. Results: On postoperative day 1, FVC significantly decreased in all groups (EC: 87.1 vs. 32.0%; IS: 75.3 vs. 29.5%; and BS: 81.9 vs. 33.2%; p < 0.001 for all), as did inspiratory volume in the IS and BS groups (2.29 vs. 0.82 L; and 2.56 vs. 1.34 L, respectively; p < 0.001 for both). Between postoperative days 1 and 5, FVC partially normalized in all groups (EC: 32.0 vs. 51.3%; IS: 29.5 vs. 46.7%; and BS: 33.3 vs. 54.3%; p < 0.001 for all). During the postoperative period, inspiratory volume was significantly higher in the BS group than in the IS group. Conclusions: The three protocols were equivalent concerning the recovery of FVC on the first five postoperative days. When compared with IS, the BS technique promoted higher inspiratory volumes in this sample of postoperative cardiac patients. (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:NCT01074957 [http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/])

Keywords: Postoperative complications; Thoracic surgery; Physical therapy modalities.