Use of routinely performed spirometry in the general medical examination (author's transl)

The value of routine spirometry was investigated in 631 unselected out-patients. The spirogram was abnormal in 17%, the ECG in 15% and the chest X-ray in 13% of patients. Pathological spirograms correlated mainly with mild or moderate obstructive ventilatory disturbances (80%) which were associated with clinical findings in only 74%. In the ECG, disturbances of repolarisation were more common (71%) than those of stimulation and conduction (29%) and were associated with clinical findings in 65%. In 91% of patients with pathological chest radiograms other investigations had indicated the necessity for an X-ray. Thus spirometry is, in addition to ECG and chest X-ray, a useful routine method. As disorders of the lung function are not always predictable by smoking habits, spirometry offers the possibility for early detection of symptom-free disease of the lung and respiratory tract.