Tidal forced expirations

The progress of infant lung function testing has been retarded by both the lack of user-friendly, widely available and affordable equipment and the la ck of standardized methodology. The European Respiratory Society/American T horacic Society Task Force on Standards for Infant Respiratory Function Tes ting was formed in an attempt to address these deficiencies. This document represents the consensus of investigators with vast experience in the measu rement of lung function in infants, The present recommendations deal with e quipment requirements, study procedures and reporting of data for measureme nts of forced expiration at end-tidal inspiration, They represent the "stat e of the art" in 1999. They are not meant to inhibit further developments i n this technique. The authors anticipate that these guidelines will be upda ted regularly as knowledge progresses.