[The effect of extrapleural thoracoplasty on the mechanical properties of lungs and ventilation indices in advanced fibrous-cavernous tuberculosis].

Basing on clinical data obtained on 42 patients, the authors prove the existence of changes in all the respiratory biomechanical parameters, primarily viscosity, in response to development of advanced fibrous-cavernous tuberculosis in the lungs. Disorders in the bronchopulmonary mechanics depend on the terms of collapsosurgical intervention and its efficacy. The viscosity-induced resistance to respiration results basically from inflammation of the tracheobronchial tree and bronchospasm. An increase in the bronchial resistance in the early postoperative period occurs both in effective and uneffective extrapleural thoracoplasty, while later on it is observed only after uneffective and corrective collapsosurgical interventions. Basic biomechanical parameters of respiration (total performance, extensibility, bronchial resistance) together with spirographic and clinicoroentgenological evidence can be of help in predicting the effect of the surgery itself. A positive response of collapsosurgical interventions on respiratory biomechanics can be judged from a persistent fall in total respiratory performance irrespective of surgical effectivity.