Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., Vol 154, No. 4, Oct 1996, 924-930.
Respiratory sensation related to resistive loads in lung transplant recipients
C Peiffer, D Silbert, J Cerrina, FL Ladurie, P Dartevelle, A Chapelier and P Herve
INSERM U 408, Faculte de Medecine Xavier Bichat, Paris, France.
In order to assess the contribution of pulmonary afferent nerves to the
processing of respiratory sensation, we compared sensation related to
inspiratory resistive loaded breathing in 14 lung transplant recipients
with normal lung function with that in 14 matched healthy control subjects.
Respiratory sensation was characterized for each subject by the correlation
coefficient and slope of the linear relationship between the intensity of
sensation (expressed as Borg scores [BSc]) and peak inspiratory mouth
pressure (peak Pm), which was considered the main physical stimulus of the
sensation. Individual correlation coefficients were very high and did not
differ between lung transplant recipients and controls. In contrast,
individual slopes of BSc as a function of peak Pm (BSc/peak Pm slopes) were
significantly lower in lung transplant recipients than in controls (0.63
versus 1.26; p < 0.01). Furthermore, ventilatory responses to external
loads differed significantly between lung transplant recipients and
controls in terms of higher values and ranges of generated peak Pm and peak
inspiratory flow in lung transplant recipients than in controls (all p <
0.05). These results suggest that pulmonary afferent nerves may contribute
to ventilatory and sensory responses to external loads. However, as
suggested by the inverse relation between BSc/peak Pm slopes and peak Pm
ranges, higher stimulus ranges in lung transplant recipients may also have
contributed to intergroup differences in respiratory sensation related to
loaded breathing.
