TY - JOUR T1 - Ergospirometry JF - Breathe JO - breathe SP - 243 LP - 245 DO - 10.1183/20734735.006711 VL - 8 IS - 3 AU - B.G. Cooper Y1 - 2012/03/01 UR - http://breathe.ersjournals.com/content/8/3/243.abstract N2 - The routine uses of spirometry include the obvious identification and classification of respiratory disease, into obstructive and restrictive respiratory disorders. However, serial spirometry can also be involved in more specialist diagnostic techniques which include: 1) bronchial challenge testing; 2) exercise tests (ergospirometry); and 3) therapeutic assessments e.g. clinical trials or nebuliser trials. The least used of these three techniques is the newer technology of ergospirometry. Modern exercise testing systems which measure real-time ventilation (as opposed to the old “Douglas Bag” technique) enable measurement of flow–volume loops during an incremental exercise test. The following case report shows an example of using ergospirometry to uncover a clinical problem that may have remained unsolved without it. A 42-yr-old woman who was a keen sportswoman and played hockey regularly, had noticed over the last few years that she got wheezy on exertion. Her symptoms … ER -