Authors
Vincent Huybrechts, Renée De Noyette, Vincent Vakaet, Chris Monten, Wilfried De Neve, Marc Coppens, Liv Veldeman
Published in
Clinical and translational radiation oncology. Volume 62. Pages 101300. Epub Sep 27, 2026.
Abstract
Deep inspiration breath-hold (DIBH) is commonly used in breast cancer radiotherapy to decrease cardiac radiation exposure. Using high-flow nasal oxygen and hyperventilation we achieved voluntary long deep inspiration breath-holds (L-DIBH) exceeding 3 min. Substantial variability in L-DIBH duration among subjects remains, not explained by physical factors. We investigated how cognitive engagement could impact the L-DIBH.
Thirty-six subjects (20 volunteers and 16 patients) each performed 12 L-DIBHs over 4 sessions. During half of the sessions, they were instructed to focus on a mental exercise. Each L-DIBH was preceded by a validated hyperventilation and oxygenation protocol. The baseline DIBH time was calculated by taking the mean of 3 DIBHs. Linear Mixed Models were used to analyse the impact of this exercise on L-DIBH duration.
All 36 subjects completed the four sessions, yielding 432 L-DIBHs, including 216 with mental exercises. The mean L-DIBH duration was 152 s overall and 126 s in the patient subgroup. Volunteers outperformed patients. L-DIBH duration increased both within and between sessions, demonstrating a learning effect. The mental exercise increased mean duration by 14,9 s in the full cohort and by 19,0 s among patients. Its relative benefit compared with the between-session learning effect was greatest in those with poorer baseline DIBH times.
A simple mental exercise effectively increases voluntary L-DIBH duration, providing a particularly meaningful benefit for participants with lower baseline DIBH times.
PMID:
42859778
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 11 Oct 2026.
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