Posture and nocturnal asthma

Abstract

To investigate whether the supine posture caused sustained bronchoconstriction and could thus contribute to the development of nocturnal asthma, nine patients with nocturnal asthma were studied on two consecutive days, lying supine for four hours on one day and sitting upright for four hours on the other, the order of the two postures being randomised. Peak expiratory flow (PEF), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), and forced vital capacity (FVC) were measured immediately before and after the four hours and over the subsequent hour. There was no significant difference between the erect and supine posture for PEF (248 v 248 l/min), FEV1 (1.31 v 1.22 l), or FVC (2.34 v 2.28 l) at the end of the four hours, nor did any significant change develop subsequently. Thus the supine posture is not associated with prolonged bronchoconstriction. As each patient had previously shown an average overnight fall in PEF of more than 20%, this study strongly suggests that the supine posture is not an important cause of overnight bronchoconstriction.