Your Results

Spirometry is a component of the diagnosis and management of respiratory conditions in primary care and should ideally be performed via referral to a primary care network respiratory diagnostic service or community diagnostics centre (CDC) with expertise in the diagnosis of the most common respiratory conditions and of less common diagnoses. Where limited resources create a challenge for testing everyone with a new suspected diagnosis of asthma, those with an intermediate probability should be prioritised for spirometry and also FENO where available.

Spirometry is a component of the diagnosis and management of respiratory conditions in primary care and should ideally be performed via referral to a primary care network respiratory diagnostic service or community diagnostics centre (CDC) with expertise in the diagnosis of the most common respiratory conditions and of less common diagnoses. Where limited resources create a challenge for testing everyone with a new suspected diagnosis of asthma, those with an intermediate probability should be prioritised for spirometry and also FENO where available.

The common chronic respiratory disorders diagnosed in primary care—asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)—are both characterised by airway obstruction. In asthma, this varies markedly with time and treatment, while in COPD, the airway obstruction is typically fixed and permanent. Some people have fixed obstruction with some degree of reversibility—the so-called asthma COPD overlap syndrome (ACOS).

According to the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) asthma control is assessed in two domains: symptom control and risk of adverse outcomes.  Poor symptom control is budensome to patients and increases the risk of exacerbations, but patients with good symptom control can still have severe exacerbations.[1]

Key learning points: • Taking a history, doing the examination, chest X-ray and spirometry are really important • Look for red flags and refer these patients straight to secondary care. • Do the basics which will point you towards the things you can do in primary care. • If you are worried about patients at any stage or feel you haven’t got a clue – you can refer them to secondary care at any stage

Dr Steve Holmes and Jane Scullion discuss the  challenges of diagnosing COPD in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic. How can we best pick up those patients who have developed COPD, should we be using spirometry? Grab a coffee, put your feet up and listen in.  

Top Tips for Facilitating Online Meetings

In this article Angela Wixey discusses a local programme of work that was established to unravel the risk factors associated with under- and over- diagnosis of COPD.   The service was operated by a Respiratory Nurse Specialist (RNS) credited by the Association of Respiratory Technology and Physiology (ARTP) in spirometry who examined 375 patients in five practices across the county over 9 months.

In association with Sandoz, we are delighted to be hosting this webinar series on asthma care The Journey Begins with the Right Diagnosis