Exam 3 Flashcards
The numbers for pulmonary arteries are synonymous with systemic arteries or veins?
Systemic veins. So, pulm arteries and systemic vein will have a PaO2 of 40mmHg and a PaCO2 of 45mmHg. The pulm veins and systemic arteries will have a PaO2 of 100mmHg and PaCO2 of 40 mmHg,
Alveolar interdependence is also known as ___.
Alveolar dependence or association
Define alveolar interdependence.
The function of one alveolus will be related/dependent to the ones around it. **Google: As alveoli are inter-connected, any alveolus tending to collapse will be held open, because it will be supported by the walls of adjoining alveoli; this interaction between alveoli is termed interdependence.
What happens if the alveolar connections between them aren’t present or the tension isn’t taught enough?
Normally things work very orderly; filling up one portion of the lung tends to fill up the area of the lung around it. If the connections aren’t working right, then we have problematic areas of the lung (ex. COPD).
Our tidal volume has is split into what 2 compartments? What are their volumes?
Gas exchange (VA)= 350mL Dead space (VD) = 150
Alveolar ventilation (VA) + Dead space ventilation (VD) = ___
Tidal volume (VT) *Normal: 500 mL for VT, 350 mL for VA, and 150 mL for VD per breath.
What does dead space air look like?
That should look close to what the patient is inspiring, minus the fact we have some humidity added to it. Remember, it doesn’t undergo gas exchange, so it should be similar to the composition of the atmosphere patient is breathing in.
The air that initially comes out of the patient upon expiration has what type of composition?
It should be similar to the dead space air; since dead space doesn’t undergo gas exchange, its composition should be very similar to the air they inhaled/atmosphere. So, it should have close to 21% oxygen and very little CO2.
After we’ve expired a large portion of dead space air, the air that comes out of the patient after that looks really similar to ___ air.
alveolar
What are the pressures of dead space for O2, CO2, N2, and water vapor?
O2 149mmHg CO2 0.3mmHg N2 564mmHg H2O 47mmHg
What are the pressures of alveolar air for O2, CO2, N2, and water vapor?
O2 104mmHg CO2 40mmHg N2 569mmHg H2O 47mmHg
Alveolar gases look similar to what other gases in our body?
Systemic arterial blood gases (PAO2 = 104, PaO2 = 100. PACO2 = 40, PaCO2 = 35=45)
__ is the state of the gases in the alveoli after we’ve had gas equilibration between air in alveoli and the pulmonary capillary blood.
PAO2 (alveolar gas)
___ describes the difference in PAO2 and PaO2 when things are unhealthy in the lung.
alveolar arterial difference
Formula for partial pressure of a gas.
PPgas = [gas] x Ptotal
Formula for concentration of a gas.
[gas] = PPgas/Ptotal
What is the concentration of PACO2 if we know that PACO2 is 40mmHg and we are at sea level?
PPgas = [gas] x Ptotal PPgas/Ptotal = [gas] 40mmHg/760mmHg = 5.3%
If concentration of PACO2 is 5.3%, in each 350mL of expired alveolar air, we have __ mL of CO2.
VA = Vtotal x PACO2% 350mL x 0.053 = 18mL of CO2
We have no CO2 in 150mL of dead space and about 5% CO2 in 350mL of alveolar air. So, the total volume of expired air on each breath should be 500mL. Of that, there is __ mL of CO2.
18.42 mL
We have no CO2 in 150mL of dead space and about 5% CO2 in 350mL of alveolar air. So, the total volume of expired air on each breath should be 500mL. Of that, there is 18.42 mL of CO2. How much CO2 do we exhale each minute with RR of 12?
221.05mL
If we expired 220 ccs of CO2 per minute, how much CO2 are we inhaling?
about 200-250 ccs of oxygen (We have to absorb the about the equivalent amount of oxygen to make up for the gas exchange. It depends on what your diet, metabolism, fitness level, etc.)
What is the respiratory exchange ratio?
Comparison between the amount of CO2 that is expired with the amount of oxygen that is absorbed.
If you have a major MI, what can happen to your expired CO2?
It will decrease. That results in CO2 building up in the patient and they are acidotic
Why do we see an upslope on our end-tidal capnograph waveform?
Because the concentration or partial pressure of CO2 of expired air tends to increase a little bit over the duration of the expiration.
What does VE stand for?
total minute ventilation, the sum of all of our tidal volumes all put together
What does the black dot over VT or VA or VD mean?
Putting a dot over each of the variables implies tidal volumes, dead space air, or alveolar air over the course of a minute.
How does PPV affect the right heart?
The R♥ has to push all the blood through these lungs. If there is a ton of positive pressure pushing on the blood vessels, that will really make things difficult for the R♥ because of the increased workload. So, use the lowest possible pressures!
At FRC, where in the lung does the majority of fresh air preferentially go to first?
Majority of fresh air preferentially goes to the areas of the lung that are most compliant, where alveoli are less full, and has the most blood flow. This would be the base of the lung.
On the pulmonary ventilation curve, what does the slope of the curve represent?
Compliance (The steeper the slope, the more compliant. The flatter the slope, the less compliant.)
At FRC, is the top of the lung more or less compliant than the base?
The apex of lung is less compliant. The base of lung is more compliant.
How does pleural pressure affect the fullness of alveoli?
The more positive the pleural pressure, the emptier the alveoli. The more negative the pleural pressure, the fuller the alveoli. **Note how alveoli at apex of lung (PPL = -8.5) at FRC is significantly larger than at the base (PPL = -1.5).
Pleural pressure gradient in the lungs are driven by ___.
gravity
Is the alveoli at the base of the lungs fuller/larger at FRC or RV? At the apex?
At FRC, the alveoli at the base and apex are both larger than the alveoli at the base and apex of the lung in RV, respectively.
Comparing the two together, the alveoli at the base of the lung are only ___% less full than the base alveoli at FRC.
5% (The way we have that 5% pushed out of the alveoli is we have applied positive PPL to push that 5% out of the alveoli.)
Why can’t we drop our alveolar fullness any lower than 20%?
Because there is only so much air we can squeeze out of our alveoli before the small airways leading into that alveoli collapse.
What happens to alveoli and alveolar pressure when we forcefully expire as much as possible?
When we forcefully expire, this is going to push on the alveoli to help it empty out by pressing on the walls of the alveoli and make PA positive, which will push the air out.
When we forcefully expire, how does that affect the small airways leading into the alveoli?
If we push on these hard enough, some of this pushing pressure has a potential to push on the airway, which, at some point, will collapse the airway and prevent us from getting any more air out.
If pleural pressure at the base of the lung at RV becomes more positive, what happens to the fullness of the alveoli at the base?
If we push any harder, and make PPL more positive than +4.8 at the base of the lung, it doesn’t change the fullness of the alveoli at the base of the lung at all. The most empty the alveoli can get is 20%!
What alveoli will have the potential to become trapped depends on ____.
Lung volume. **If we are at a really high lung or alveolar volume and we push on this (more positive pleural pressure), we are going to be able to get quite a bit of air out of here.
True or False. When we have high lung or alveolar volume, the small airway is basically a continuation of the alveolar unit.
TRUE **So, if we have a fairly high alveolar volume, then the attached airway will be really wide!
If the alveolus has been pulled open by negative pleural pressure or forced to accept volume in here, the small airways tend to do what?
The small airways tend to widen as alveoli fill with volume. **Remember that the small airways are like a continuation of large alveolar units!
Explain why larger/fuller alveoli are less likely to collapse than smaller/emptier alveoli.
Larger alveoli will have larger/wider airways attached to them. Smaller alveoli have smaller/more narrow airways, which make them more likely to collapse.
What is the pleural pressures at the apex and base of the lung at RV?
Apex: -2.2 Base: +4.8
The higher the transpulmonary pressure, the higher or lower the alveolar volume %?
Higher **Remember PTP is essentially opposite of PPL. So, The higher (more positive) the PTP, the lower (more negative) the PPL, the higher/fuller the alveolar volume %.
Describe PTP and PPL on expiration.
On expiration, we are pushing air out of the lungs/alveoli. So, PTP will be lower (more negative) and PPL will be higher (more positive).
The alveoli at the top of the lung at RV are more empty than they were at FRC. Why?
At FRC, the PPL at the top is -8.5 and at RV it is -2.2. RV’s pleural pressure is more positive, meaning there is isn’t as much pressure to hold the alveoli open or fill them up!
At RV, the alveoli at the apex of the lung is ___% full.
30% So, at RV: apex is 30% and base is 20% of total possible capacity.
True or False. If we have a PPL of anything that is positive or if we have a PTP that is negative, that would give us the ability to put a little bit more air into alveoli.
False! Putting air into the alveoli (inspiration) would require PPL to be negative and PTP to be positive.
Where in the lung are alveoli more compliant at RV?
The apex
When we are at really low lung volumes (RV) and inspire, where in the lung will the fresh air preferentially go to first? Why?
The apex, because at RV, the apex has more compliance than the base of the lung–easier for air to go there.
Describe the compliance of the base of the lung at RV.
The slope is essentially flat; zero compliance! If we were to increase PTP from +4.8, we would get no volume into the lung for quite a while. If we make PPL 0, we still wouldn’t have a whole lot of air coming into the base of the lung. We would have to actually get all the way over to somewhere around here [pointing/arrow] until we get any air coming into the base of the lung.
If we are changing transpulmonary pressure without any change in volume to the alveoli, what is the compliance?
ZERO compliance (This is what occurs at the base of the lung at RV!)
What happens to alveoli if they are collapsed for too long?
They will be difficult to open back up! It will be harder for the alveoli/lung to re-inflate. Eventually, if they are collapsed for long enough then that part of the lung is going to eventually disappear.
Is there a difference in tissue characteristic between inflating and deflating the lung?
Yes. Lung volume increases correspond to the curve that is on the right and lung volume decreases (expiration) is the curve on the left; that is why they have two lines in there.
True or False. PTP of 0 would be equal to a PPL of 0. So, PPL of 0 surrounding the base of the lung. We can assume that as soon as we make PPL more negative, we could probably get air into the lungs at that point.
False! If we are working from really low lung volumes and we do have some collapsed areas of the lung, we actually have to apply a little extra pressure just to prop open those airways back up after they collapsed. What we would have to do is make PPL substantially more negative than it is in order for any air to start going into the base of the lung.
How much extra pressure is needed to open up a collapsed alveoli?
4-5cmH2O (in a young, healthy adult). More might be required for elderly patients, smokers.
How can we prevent alveoli from collapsing?
Using PEEP on the ventilator to keep a little bit of volume in the lungs.
If we are at lower lung volumes (RV) and we are still upright, fresh air would preferentially be going to the top of the lung. What happens as we put more and more into the lungs?
It tends to open up the lungs as it goes down. At some point, we will get enough air into the lungs to reopen the base of the lung. When that reopening has taken place, once those airways and alveoli there open back up, then air will start preferentially going to the base of the lung. This is due to the pleural pressure gradient!
Significance of alveoli sharing common walls.
These shared walls connect alveoli together, forming continuous pathways for blood to go through. So, if we are able to start putting air into the middle of the lung here, this is going to pull these other connected alveoli open and help get air into the lower collapsed areas of the lung.
What happens to alvolar walls in COPD or emphysema?
Some alveolar walls are lost and alveoli get really big; they don’t have the same types of connections that a healthy person has. If we don’t have as many walls that are attached to each other, we can have an issue getting collapsed areas of the lungs to open back up, resulting in a patchy collapse.
Pro and Con of using PEEP to keep extra volume in lungs.
Pro: Prevent alveolar collapse Con: Potential circulatory problems in the lungs, R♥ overload/increased workload
Why is transpulmonary pressure used rather than pleural pressure when looking at pulmonary ventilation curves?
Because PTP are applicable to normal breathing and PPV, whereas pleural pressure does not necessarily apply to PPV.
Looking at PACO2 (alveolar) and PAO2 (alveolar), ____ is dependent on how much ventilation we have.
partial pressure
If we were bringing in completely fresh air from the outside with no blood flow, what would our PAO2 and PACO2 be?
If we had no blood flow but plenty of fresh air coming in, we wouldn’t be absorbing any oxygen out of the alveolus. Therefore, the PAO2 and PACO2 should be equal to what is coming in. So, if PO2 coming into the alveoli is 150, then PAO2 should also be 150. If PCO2 coming into the alveoli is 0, then PACO2 is also 0. **Written in blue on drawing.
If we were to have no ventilation of this alveolus but we did have perfusion of this alveolus, what would our PAO2 and PACO2 be?
The alveolar PACO2 should be 45 mmHg, the equivalent of PCO2 partial pressure arriving at this location via the pulmonary arteries. PAO2 would be 40 mmHg, again, the equivalent of PO2 of the pulmonary arteries.
____ is a way for us to measure a number of our lung volumes and capacities.
Spirometry
How does a spirometer work?
There is an upside down tank that is pretty full of air, with an opening at the bottom of the tank. The patient is connected by a tube to this machine and as they inspire and expire, the quantity of air inside of the upside down water heater it changes. With inspiration, the tank moves down because it is drawing air out of the tank, sucking in the water. With expiration, it fills the upside down tank with more air, pushing the tank up.
What does a large tracing mean on a spirometer?
Large tracings signify more movement, greater inspiratory and expiratory volumes.
Normal spirometer can calculate all lung volumes and capacities except?
Residual volume. Therefore, spirometers cannot measure total lung capacity or functional reserve capacity.
Patient is hooked up to a spirometer and takes a deep breath and exhales as much as possible. What did the spirometer record?
The patient’s vital capacity (VC = TD + IRV + ERV)
Is emphysema an obstructive or restrictive pulmonary disease? COPD?
Both are obstructive airway disorders, associated with the loss of elastic tissue and some of the elastic tissue not being connected very well on the inside of the lungs.
What lung volumes differ in obstructive lung diseases compared with normal? How are they different?
With obstructive lung disease (ex. Emphysema, COPD, etc.), we can see more than a doubling in the RV vs someone who is completely healthy. Also, they would have a smaller ERV.
What do we need in addition to a spirometer to measure residual volume?
We would need extra attachments to it and an indicator dilution setup.
4 qualities of an ideal indicator for measuring residual volume.
- cheap 2. non-reactive 3. non-toxic 4. not absorbed in blood stream
The most commonly used indicator for spirometers is ___.
Helium, because it is fairly inert, doesn’t react with a whole lot of stuff, doesn’t explode when it is exposed to flame, and is probably one of the cheapest of the noble gases.
List the noble gases. (6)
- Helium 2. Neon 3. Argon 4. Krypton 5. Xenon 6. Radon
____ is a noble gas but can actually be radioactive.
Radon
Outside of smoking, ___ is the most common source of lung cancer.
Radon (A lot of people ran radon tests if they had a basement if you someone had lung cancer. Sometimes people look for radon leaking in from the outside.)
We don’t want a gas indicator that will be absorbed into the blood stream when measuring residual volume. Why?
We want the indicator gas to stay in the gas form; we don’t want it disappearing. Otherwise, it will screw up our measurements and we won’t be able to keep track of it.
When measuring RV/FRC using spirometry and indicator dilution setup, before the test there was 10% helium and only 5% after the test. Why?
During the test, the helium is going to be diluted out because you added more space (patient’s breath) in the system.
Formula for a concentration.
volume of the compound that we are interested in/total volume
If a 10 L container has 10% helium, what is the volume of helium in that container?
volume of the compound that we are interested in (X)/total volume 10% He = [He] Total volume = 10L So, [0.1] = X/10 L → X = 1 L He
Before the FRC test, there 10% He in a 10L container. After the test, there is only 5% He. How much is the new total volume of the container? What does the difference between the original and new volume mean?
Before test: 10% He = [He] Total volume = 10L So, [0.1] = X/10 L → X = 1 L He After test: 5% He = [He] Total volume = Y So, [0.05] = 1L He/Y → Y = 1 L/0.05 = 20 L So, the amount of volume that is in the patient is the difference—10 L of air in the patient.
We would expect composition of dead space gas to look pretty close to what we are ___.
inspiring
The gas that is in the lung after equilibration is going to have some ___ that is missing and some ___ that it didn’t have on the way in.
The gas that is in the lung after equilibration is going to have some oxygen that is missing and it will have some CO2 that it didn’t have on the way in.
What we expired during the entire breath, that will be a combo of ___ and ___.
dead space gas and alveolar gas