Pulmonary function in the normal male

¹ Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Wayne State University College of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan

Selected pulmonary function tests, total vital capacity (TVC), 1.0 second expiratory capacity (EC) and total expiratory time were determined in 130 healthy males age 20–25 years. The mean TVC as measured in the sitting position was 5.09 l. ± S.E. 0.05. The mean value was significantly higher than predicted, using the formula of West. TVC increased with increasing body surface and height. Especially good correlation was seen between TVC and essential body mass (EBM) where an essentially linear relationship was obtained. Data from this study on a narrow age group indicates that the normal may deviate from the mean by as much as 20%. The mean 1.0 second EC was 90.8% ± S.E. 0.44 of the TVC. This was somewhat higher than has been reported. The total expiratory time was 1.63 seconds ± S.E. 0.03. There was no correlation of total expiratory time with any body measurement.