Do you use hypercapnia as an exclusion criteria in all patients that are being assessed for bronchoscopic lung volume reduction?  

I have been utilizing a PaCO2 threshold exceeding 60 mmHg in arterial blood gas (ABG) analysis as one of the exclusion criteria for evaluating COPD patients for Endobronchial Valve (EBV) insertion. It may not always be imperative to conduct an ABG test. Some practitioners may opt to use bicarbonate...