André Luís Pereira de Albuquerque1,2, Danilo C Berton3, Eloara Vieira Machado Ferreira Álvares S Campos4,5, Fernando José Pinho Queiroga-Júnior6, Alfredo Nicodemos Cruz Santana7,8, Bruno de Moraes Santos Wong9,10, Diane Rezende Batista11, Felipe Xavier de Melo12,13, Fernando Moacyr Fragoso Didier-Neto14,15,16, Helen Moreira Coutinho32,33, João Adriano de Barros17,18,19, João Marcos Salge1, José Alberto Neder20, Juliane Penalva Costa Serra21,22, Larissa Rego Voss23,24, Marcelo Bicalho de Fuccio25,26, Maria Raquel Soares4, Mariana Lafeta Lima4,5,14,27, Paulo Roberto Araújo Mendes28, Roberto Rodrigues-Junior29,30, Saulo Maia D’Avila Melo31, Sílvia Carla Sousa Rodrigues32,33, Thamine Lessa34, Carlos Alberto de Castro Pereira4
J Bras Pneumol.2024;50(6):e20240169
The latest pulmonary function guideline from the Brazilian Thoracic Association was
published in 2002, since which there have been updates to international guidelines (mainly
those from the European Respiratory Society and the American Thoracic Society), as well
as new national and international publications on various aspects of the performance,
interpretation, and clinical implications of spirometry. Despite those updates, a careful
analysis of what applies to the reality in Brazil is essential, because there have been
studies that evaluated individuals who are representative of our population and who could
show responses different from those of individuals in other regions of the world. This
document is the result of the work of a group of specialists in pulmonary function who
evaluated relevant scientific articles that could be applicable to the population of Brazil.
After the discussions, new spirometry guidelines were drawn up, covering various aspects
such as its technical parameters and performance; its indications and contraindications;
its interpretation; concepts of normality and their related variability; reference values;
classification of functional severity; and response to an inhaled bronchodilator. Finally, the
guidelines emphasize the need to always interpret spirometry results in the context of the
clinical condition of the patient and of the pretest probability.
Keywords: Respiratory function tests; Spirometry; Respiratory physiological phenomena
