Functional respiratory evaluation in the coronavirus disease-19 era: The role of pulmonary function test laboratories

• Published in: Revista de investigacion clinica Vol. 77; no. 4; p. 100011
• Main Authors: Gochicoa-Rangel, Laura, Torre-Bouscoulet, Luis, Salles Rojas, Antonio, Guzmán-Valderrábano, Carlos, Esperanza Benítez-Pérez, Rosaura, Salas Escamilla, Isabel, Monráz-Pérez, Sergio, Manuel Grosso-Espinosa, Juan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Mexico Elsevier España S.L.U 01.07.2025
• Subjects: Adult; Child; Coronavirus disease-19; COVID-19 - physiopathology; Humans; Laboratories - standards; Pulmonary function test laboratories; Pulmonary function tests; Quality and safety measures; Quality Control; Respiratory Function Tests - methods; Respiratory Function Tests - standards; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Quality and safety measures; Pulmonary function tests; Coronavirus disease-19; Pulmonary function test laboratories
• ISSN: 0034-8376; 2564-8896
• DOI: 10.24875/RIC.20000250

The pandemic character of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) requires strategy changes designed to guarantee the safety of patients and health-care professionals. We are greatly concerned by the limitations in the operation of pulmonary function test (PFT) laboratories, since there is a high risk of disease progression in patients with chronic pulmonary diseases, and we are now faced by the influx of a new group of individuals in the recovery phase of post-COVID-19-syndrome that requires evaluation and follow-up of their respiratory function. To reestablish the operation of PFT laboratories limiting the risk of cross-contamination, we herein present the consensus reached by a group of experts in respiratory physiology, most of whom work in PFT laboratories in several Latin-American countries, on the applicable recommendations for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pneumonia survivors when undergoing PFT. We present the safety and hygiene measures that must be adopted in laboratories or centers where PFT is conducted in adults and/or children. These recommendations answer the following questions: which PFT is most recommended in subjects that have recovered from COVID-19; what quality control and safety measures should PFT laboratories implement during this pandemic? And how should we approach non-COVID-19 patients requiring PFT?