The difference in ventilation distribution between patients withchronic obstructive lung disease and alpha-1- antitrypsin deficiency. Degreeproject in Biomedical Science 15 Credit Points. Malmö University: Faculty ofHealth and Society, Department of Biomedical Science, 2022.

Spirometry is one of the most common and important physiological examinationsused in the investigation of lung function. Diffusing capacity (DLCO) can providean estimate of abnormalities by assessing the diffusion capacity of the gas carbonmonoxide (CO) in the lungs to the blood. However, differences in ventilationdistribution have not been fully investigated between certain diseases such asalpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) caused by smoking. Since these diseases have different causes, it is alsopossible that the distribution of ventilation differs. The aim of the study was toinvestigate the difference in ventilation distribution (Alveolar volume (VA) /Total lung capacity (TLC)) in patients with smoking-induced COPD with patientswho have alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. The method is based on analyzing datafrom already performed spirometry examinations. The participants' gender,height, weight, age, TLC and VA were collected from the database to be furtheranalyzed in this study. Mean, standard deviation and t-test were calculated tostudy the difference between the groups and compare ventilation distribution. Ttest shows significantly higher ratio in AATD patients compared with COPDpatients and thus better ventilation distribution. This was expected as AATDpatients have more evenly distributed emphysema.