• DLCO big decline, but no deterioration in symptoms

    Posted by Deleted User on May 12, 2021 at 3:04 pm

    Hi all, my dad just had his long awaited Lung function tests which were postponed due to Covid, and the results were puzzling to say the least and im wondering if anyone has had any similar experiences.

    Basically the FVC number is stable so is his energy level and his O2 saturation is stable and in the high 90s, no issues or deterioration, BUT his DLCO has dropped significantly. last time his DLCO had dropped he felt fatigue all the time, you could see the symptoms before the test, but he doesnt have any issues this time around, so we are very confused as to how his DLCO is so low, the lowest it has ever been but everything else is pretty stable and reasonable? Has anyone experienced this situation? would love to hear our views.

    Thaks!

    Deleted User replied 2 years, 10 months ago 2 Members · 2 Replies
  • 2 Replies
  • donald-salzberg-md

    Member
    May 14, 2021 at 1:13 pm

    Hi Lnour

    Im not 100% sure being an Ophthalmologist and not a Pulmonologist BUT the FEV and DLCO can go down with a recent illness or just a bad test. I gained weight and my FEV went down and came back up again with weight loss. Any time my test result was an aberration—we repeated the PFT in 2-3 months. My recent FEV was down and DLCO was not. Yet my symptoms (being winded) are the same as a year ago. Has he done the 6-minute walk test? Was he ill at all when he was tested? If his breathing symptoms are unchanged I suspect the pulmonologist will want to repeat the PFTs to confirm. In an AE i would expect the FEV and DLCO to both go down but I’m not certain if this. I’m am always fatigued (and I was a ball of energy 24/7) but it doesn’t correlate with the DLCO. It goes to show each patient with IPF have different sets of symptoms or courses. I hope this helps

  • Deleted User

    Deleted User
    May 15, 2021 at 3:02 am

    Thanks Donald for the reply, i think you hit on something regarding the correlation between DLCO and general state of energy/health. The last time his DLCO dropped, it went down to 3.55 and he was constantly fatigued, breathing issues etc. This time it’s even lower at 3.29 yet he is not fatigued and O2 levels are good and no major breathing issues. So it seems to be either a case of mistakes during the test or DLCO being low due to something that doesn’t impact the exchange of gases in his lungs, otherwise it doesn’t make sense. He hasn’t been ill or anything, has not experienced AE, the only two variants I can think of is 1- he stopped his stomach acid medication, I’ve heard acid  can cause DLCO issues, 2- had his Covid vaccines but I highly doubt vaccines would impact lung function negatively

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