Pilot study on nasal and bronchial hyperreactivity after continuous nasal positive pressure ventilation (nCPAP)

In a pilot study the possibility to release or amplify bronchoconstriction or bronchial hyperreactivity by nCPAP was investigated. A group of 12 healthy individuals was examined in bodyplethysmography and rhinomanometry before and after half an hour of nCPAP breathing. Furthermore a second group of 12 patients suffering from asthma and chronic obstructive bronchitis was tested with bodyplethysmography and carbachol testing before and after half an hour of nCPAP. In both groups we found no significant changes in Raw, sGaw, FEV1% VC, RV% TLC before and after nCPAP. The nasal flow in the group of healthy probands showed only a physiologic variation. Bronchial hyperreactivity of patients with asthma and chronic obstructive bronchitis was unchanged after nCPAP.