Rethinking Pulmonary Function Tests in Patients with Neuromuscular Disease: The Potential Role of Electrical Impedance Tomography

An assessment of pulmonary function provides information that can contribute to establishing the severity of respiratory impairment, to predicting the onset of respiratory symptoms, and ultimately to optimizing the care of Neuromuscular Disease (NMD) patients. It is nevertheless well known that conventional Pulmonary Function Tests (PFTs) have several technical limitations and that their accuracy depends to some extent on the patient’s ability to cooperate. For this reason, it is essential to move beyond traditional pulmonary function evaluation in individuals with NMD. A relatively new technology, electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is an easy-to-use, radiation-free imaging technique that may overcome many of the limitations of conventional PFTs by producing real-time images of regional ventilation and tidal volume distribution. As it is safe and independent from patient cooperation, EIT is expected to improve the diagnosis of respiratory compromise and facilitate the implementation of timely, personalized treatments for NMD patients. There are nevertheless technical problems that need to be addressed to facilitate its diffusion in clinical practice.