Diagnostic des troubles fonctionnels et inflammatoires chroniques des petites voies aériennes

Faced with the numerous respiratory dysfunctions, there is a large variety of investigation techniques. None is sufficient. Each has its specific application, its advantages and its drawbacks. Detection of disorders associated with inflammation of small air ways (bronchos¬pasm, pulmonary vasoconstriction, bronchial hyper-reactivity) is a first step. The field examinations Wow: arterial blood gases (which give a global appreciation of the pulmonary function), LTB and LBA (which may characterize the pathogenic agent), endoscopy and biop¬sy are the most useful. Then, a battery of tests is used, performed in a very specialized infrastructure : scanning, ventilation mechanics... which allow to evaluate the state of the respiratory apparatus. Finally, the tests during effort help to evaluate, more specifically, the effects of a treatment