The main objective of this study is to develop baseline "normal" reference values of both lung and heart function for healthy adults within the age range relevant to the United States Veteran population who served in the Southwest Asia theater of military operations. This study will involve performing key components of the Department of Veterans Affairs the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Center of Excellence (AHOBPCE) and a VA network of Post-Deployment Cardiopulmonary Evaluation Network (PDCEN) Core Clinical Evaluation in asymptomatic unexposed healthy controls without known lung or heart disease to serve as a "normal" control comparator group for veterans evaluated by PDCEN.
This is an observational study to recruit and thoroughly characterize 200 age- and gender-matched healthy controls without a history of exposure to airborne hazards. The childhood health and disease profiles of participants will also be evaluated to provide assessment of their physical fitness as adolescents. The participants will undergo detailed clinical, physiological, and radiological evaluations that will match the PDCEN Core Clinical Evaluation, which includes administration of health, environmental and occupational exposures, respiratory, and physical fitness questionnaires, pulmonary function testing (PFT), forced oscillometry (FOT), cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) with maximum effort, dynamic hyperinflation, and exercise-induced bronchospasm protocols, methacholine challenge testing, transthoracic echocardiography, and computer tomography (CT) of chest, as well as pulmonary and systemic biomarker analysis including fractional exhalation of nitric oxide (FeNO) and peripheral blood sampling for blood count and metabolic panel including liver and kidney function.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
200
Observational study with no intervention
University of California San Francisco
San Francisco, California, United States
RECRUITINGNormal reference values for heart and lung function within the age range relevant to the United States Veteran population.
Pulmonary Function Testing: The purpose of this test is to determine the participant's lungs' capacity.
Time frame: 2 years
Normal reference values for heart and lung function within the age range relevant to the United States Veteran population.
Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing: The purpose of this test is to determine the participant's lung and heart capacity during maximum exercise.
Time frame: 2 years
Normal reference values for heart and lung function within the age range relevant to the United States Veteran population.
Echocardiogram: The purpose of this test is to determine how well the subject's heart is functioning and identify causes of cardiac-related symptoms.
Time frame: 2 years
Normal reference values for heart and lung function within the age range relevant to the United States Veteran population.
FeNO: The purpose of this test is to measure a marker of inflammation in the lungs.
Time frame: 2 years
Normal reference values for heart and lung function within the age range relevant to the United States Veteran population.
Forced Oscillation Technique: The purpose of this test is to determine the resistance of the airways in the subject's lungs.
Time frame: 2 years
Normal reference values for heart and lung function within the age range relevant to the United States Veteran population.
Methacholine Challenge Test: The purpose of this test is to determine how irritable the participant's airways are by administering gradually increasing doses of methacholine.
Time frame: 2 years
Normal reference values for heart and lung function within the age range relevant to the United States Veteran population.
Chest CT: The purpose of this test is to examine for abnormalities and to help diagnose the cause of signs or symptoms of chest disease.
Time frame: 2 years
Normal reference values for heart and lung function within the age range relevant to the United States Veteran population.
Peripheral Blood Draw: The purpose of this blood draw is to determine metabolic and blood inflammatory markers.
Time frame: 2 years
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