The goal of the study was to assess the effects of a respiratory physiotherapy intervention in the tracheobronchial tree (TBT) volume and lung function in patients with lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI). In this framework, a method for TBT segmentation in Computer Tomography (CT) images of patients with LRTI was implemented, allowing to obtain volumetric data and study their correlation with the lung function (spirometry) parameters.

Subjects A cohort of 40 patients with LRTI was recruited from the emergency department of a general hospital (Centro Hospitalar do Baixo Vouga, Aveiro, Portugal) and randomly assigned to conventional pharmacotherapy plus respiratory physiotherapy (EG – Experimental Group, n=21; average age 57.0 years; σ=19.8) or conventional pharmacotherapy only (CG – Control Group, n=19; average age 52.8 years; σ=17.6) for 3 weeks. Patients of the two groups were diagnosed in accordance to figure 1. The study received full approval from the Ethics Committee of the hospital...

Both groups (CG and EG) improved significantly after the three weeks intervention in BT, FEV1 and FCV (p<0.05) however, no significant differences between groups were observed (table 1). No significant difference was observed regarding FEV1/FVC with time or between groups. Previous studies in similar contexts [2, 3] and others obtained considering patients with COPD [9, 10] had already shown that respiratory physiotherapy has no direct impact in lung function (spirometry) parameters. Our study shows that, at least in the case of patients with LRTI, it...

Lung segmentation (BT volume) applied to CT scans and spirometry results suggest that respiratory physiotherapy does not influence the lung function recovery of patients with LRTI after three weeks of treatment. Due to the limitations of the study, it is desirable to confirm the result with a larger sample of subjects.

Silvia De Francesco, PhD, School of Health Sciences of the University of Aveiro, Portugal ([email protected]) P. M. Martins, PhD, School of Health Sciences of the University of Aveiro, Portugal ([email protected]) Adriana Esteves, BSc Medical Imaging and Radiotherapy, School of Health Sciences of the University of Aveiro, Portugal Eliana Oliveira, BSc Medical Imaging and Radiotherapy, School of Health Sciences of the University of Aveiro, Portugal Maria Morais, BSc Medical Imaging and Radiotherapy, School of Health Sciences of the University of Aveiro, Portugal Ana Oliveira, MSc, Respiratory...

1. Woodhead M, Blasi F, Ewig S, Garau J, Huchon G, Ieven M, et al. Guidelines for the management of adult lower respiratory tract infections – full version. Clin Microbiol Infect 2011; 17(Suppl. 6): E1–59. 2. Oliveira A, Marques A, Exploratory mixed methods study of respiratory physiotherapy for patients with lower respiratory tract infections, Physiotherapy, The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy 2016;102(1):111–8. 3. Oliveira A, Pinho C, Marques A., Effects of a respiratory physiotherapy session in patients with LRTI: a pre/post-test study. Clin Respir J. 2015...