Seward B Rutkove, Courtney E McIlduff, Elijah Stommel, Sean Levy, Christy Smith, Hilda Gutierrez, Sarah Verga, Soleil Samaan, Chebet Yator, Ajitesh Nanda, Lisa Pastel, Allaire Doussan, Kathy Phipps, Ethan Murphy, Ryan Halter
Objective : We sought to determine whether thoracic electrical impedance tomography (EIT) could characterize pulmonary function in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients, including those with facial weakness. Thoracic EIT is a noninvasive, technology in which a multi-electrode belt is placed across the chest, producing real-time impedance imaging of the chest during breathing. Methods : We enrolled 32 ALS patients and 32 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs) without underlying lung disease. All participants had EIT measurements performed simultaneously with standard pulmonary function tests (PFTs), including slow and forced vital capacity (SVC and FVC) in upright and supine positions and maximal inspiratory and expiratory pressures (MIPs and MEPs, respectively)...
April 4, 2024: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration